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The Amazing Spider-Man 2:
With Great Power Comes Great (Environmental) Responsibility

Sony Pictures’ upcoming blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 2 weaves an exciting web of action onscreen, combined with environmental consciousness and responsibility behind the screen. According to the studio, the physical production of the film, hailed as “the most eco-friendly blockbuster in the history of the studio” by Hannah Minghella, president of Production at Sony Pictures, was entirely carbon-neutral, thanks to attention to a variety of pertinent and easily modifiable details.

By Aarthi Rayapura | Published 12 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Sony Pictures’ upcoming blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 2 weaves an exciting web of action onscreen, combined with environmental consciousness and responsibility behind the screen. According to the studio, the physical production of the film, hailed as “the most eco-friendly blockbuster in the history of the studio” by Hannah Minghella, president of Production at Sony Pictures, was entirely carbon-neutral, thanks to attention to a variety of pertinent and easily modifiable details.

The initiative began right at pre-production and was supported at every level from producers and studio executives to the cast and crew. The below video by Sony explains the various ways that the film attempted to adopt environment-friendly practices, ranging from basic waste segregation and recycling to setting more complicated, department-specific agendas with weekly incentives to motivate the team.

In a partnership with Earth Hour and WWF China, Sony Pictures purchased carbon offsets by providing 100 clean cookstoves for communities near China’s Giant Panda habitat region, reducing deforestation and improving air quality for local residents. In a press release, Sony stated: “Through its efforts, the studio will receive Gold Standard carbon offsets that render the entire physical production of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as well as its publicity tour, carbon-neutral.”

This month, Spider-Man will be the first Super Hero ambassador for Earth Hour, the annual worldwide lights-out event in recognition of climate change. Spidey and the film’s stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and director Marc Webb are also throwing their support behind Earth Hour Blue — a new digital crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform aimed at engaging people around the world and participants in the annual event to raise funds for on-the-ground environmental projects from across the world.

“I’m proud Spider-Man is the first Super Hero ambassador for Earth Hour because he shows we can all be Super Heroes when we realize the power we all have,” says Andrew Garfield, who plays Spider-Man. “Earth Hour is a movement that has created massive impact around the world, so imagine what we can do this year with Spider-Man by our side.”