Coronation Street honoured at the Observer Eical Awards

Coronation Street goes green as industry turns to more ethical ways of production

ITV Studio's programme wins inaugural Film & Television award for sustainability

Coronation Street was honoured on Thursday 2nd July at the Observer Ethical Awards as the first recipient of the inaugural Film and Television Industry category.

Identified as a strong candidate by the BAFTA albert consortium, and with major competition in the category from BBC's Springwatch and Film London's Terminally Happy,' the ITV Studio's programme and nation's most watched soap won for its commitment to producing a television drama of the highest quality with the lowest possible environmental impact.'

Picking up the gong at the V&A Museum in London, Executive Producer Kieran Roberts said:

This is a very special and important award, one which we are all very proud to receive. Coronation Street has strived to improve the sustainability of every element of the production from how we power our site, to how we encourage electronic working for scripts and paperwork, to how we minimise waste and recycle wherever possible, to how we produce food, source costumes, and create sets.

Without preaching, we also haven't been afraid of engaging with our audience through storylines about sustainability, from Beth and Kirk s recycled wedding to Roy's search for a local food supplier that led him to the allotment.

Coronation street aims to be the first carbon literate television programme in the world and we are training all our cast and crew in carbon literacy to understand what it's all about and how they can take control at work and at home. Our sustainability work is an ongoing journey and now an integral part of the day to day workings of the programme.

Lucy Siegle, founder of The Observer Ethical Awards, said:

Our judges were bowled over by Coronation Street s commitment and energy to greening TV and film production. From salvaging cobbles for the new set to LED studio lighting and renewable energy, to pioneering a carbon literacy programme for staff Corrie, is taking responsibility across every department and doesn t shy away from covering these issues on screen either. Many organisations are still saying, why should we change at ITV's Corrie they re saying, why shouldn t we lead this debate! That s the spirit we love at the awards.

The win comes just after the programme received three stars for its albert+ rating the highest possible score in BAFTA albert's hallmark' scale of sustainable production.

Coronation Street are proud of their achievements and continue to put improvements in place to take them closer towards their aim of being the first carbon literate production in the world a green logo, to promote their sustainable credentials across the production and within ITV, will be on screen from 6th July.

EDITORS NOTES:

Some of Coronation Street's improvements to their production include:

On screen normalizing' of everyday sustainable behaviour. i.e. recycling bins and signs in vision on the set, sustainable hobbies such as upcycling and gardening

Secured a 100% renewable energy for the whole site

Making their materials work harder by building and recycling sets so that single units can easily be for numerous settings, (achieved with double sided signage etc). Any virgin materials are sourced responsibly.

Encasing servers in sealed units to minimize air-conditioning requirements and make possible the redistribution of useful heat to elsewhere in the building.

Monthly paper reduction of 90k sheets across scripts, continuity reports, call sheets etc, month on month for the first quarter of 2014.

An integrated waste and recycling management system which has achieved an impressive 90-99% recycling stats across all major streams (wood, industrial and general waste)

Reduction of travel and accommodation by selecting locations for off-set filming by proximity to unit base, setting a 30 mile radius as a maximum

Banning of disposable cups and mugs when at base, replacing with china/reusable plastic and the issuing of refillable water bottles for all crew

Driving change through their supply chain by favouring companies with solid sustainability policies and practices

ITV selected Coronation Street to work in partnership with other industry stakeholders to develop the TV Carbon Literacy training course. Certified by Cooler Projects, this course was created as part of Manchester's a certain future' plan for the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.

LINK:	http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/coronation-street-honour...
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