NCNatural.com Online Coupons help shoppers save money on DVDs, Movie Posters and more

North Carolina residents have a great way to save lots of money while shopping online. The destination is NCNatural.com and the keyword is bargain when it comes to finding your favorite items for less. Whether you are shopping for Halloween costumes, birthday gifts or trying to start on an early holiday wish list, this is the place to be. You can find coupons to use at lots of major online retailers that provide shipping to North Carolina.

This can be especially helpful for North Carolina filmmakers who need wardrobe, movie props and food to feed cast and crew members. Lots of money can be saved when using coupons from NCNatural.com and the left over cash can be used toward local film festival entry fees. Those Asheville Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival and Twin Rivers Media Festival expenses can add up quickly. However, you do not have to be a filmmaker to get all of the money-saving coupons offered. Almost everyone is a movie lover or TV fan. You can even find a dozen Disney coupons all in one place. It’s a great destination for parents or women and men who have favorite Disney characters and movies. The Lion King and other movies are classics, but can add up to lots of money when adding to a DVD collection. That is why money-saving coupons always help.

Movie Posters can be expensive and we all know that Allposters is one of the more popular online retailers that carry posters and images from the latest Hollywood Blockbusters and old movies. NCNatural.com offers dozens of Allposters coupons that can be used toward movie posters and other items like special prints, celebrity standups, 2008 Calendars and apparel. The fun doesn’t stop there, as this website is updated daily. It features offers from hundreds of merchants and visitors to NCNatural.com save money when using coupons offered through the website. It is not always easy to find great deals and many websites are filled with so much clutter, you cannot even find what you are searching for.

This is one area that puts NCNatural.com among the best websites to find money saving coupons when shopping online. It is very easy to navigate through the website and find coupons fast. The layout is simple, allowing you to easily find great coupons when shopping for the latest music or DVD releases. It is presented so well that you may even find coupons for stores that you were not thinking about at first. Find coupons for free shipping, hotels, money-off and more.

A Blog Action Day champion for less Water Pollution on Film Sets

Photo: Wespionage of Flickr

Today is Blog Action Day, which brings us to the topic of discussing a better future for our environment. There are numerous human activities that have a negative affect on the environment. One of those activities is water pollution. Many companies add to water pollution either knowingly or inadvertently. The entertainment industry is no exception to such behavior, particularly in the area of movie production.

Many Hollywood and independent entertainment companies are causing water pollution on film sets. This is occurring with lots of municipal solid waste. There are ways that many of us, especially independent filmmakers can change this to create a better future for out environment. It must all begin now, on and after Blog Action Day. Municipal solid waste is a contributor to water pollution. The inappropriate disposal of solid waste is one source of water pollution that can be decreased significantly on film sets. It includes many forms, some of which will be discussed below.

Biodegradable waste: Food and Kitchen waste, green waste and paper.
While film sets may not involve extended use of green waste, the other two are used frequently:

Photo: uberzombie of Flickr

Food and Kitchen Waste
This contains any waste that is derived from food materials such as scraps of meat, vegetable peelings, excess food, spoiled food and other discards from the kitchen. While most film sets do not include residential or commercial kitchens, they do usually provide craft services. This department is where food and kitchen waste can be located. The waste is usually dumped. However, it can be incinerated and used for fuel or fed to animals. When we throw food and kitchen waste in the trash, it is usually picked up by the sanitation department and sent to a landfill.

Landfills are one of the unhealthiest forms of waste management when it comes to protecting our environment. If that was not bad enough, our nation is running out of room. It seems that the solution to that has been to add more landfill sites, loading more pollution into our surroundings. Incineration and animal feeding is one great way that we can support the preservation of a clean and healthy environment. Some may be reading this and thinking “My cat does not like pizza” or “My dog does not eat macaroni and cheese”. These are not good excuses to just dump food and kitchen waste after filming and go on to the next item listed on your call sheet.

Food and kitchen waste can be fed to pigs and other animals. Movie companies and filmmakers who are producing films during the summer can definitely use these tactics as an alternative to dumping it. Hot weather makes food and kitchen waste rot and smell bad, attracting insects that can breed and cause a major disturbance.

Paper
We use tons of paper during the entire movie production process. Every film starts with a script that includes over 100 pages. Multiply that by the number of cast members, staff and others who use the script and that comes out to tons of paper for just one part of production. Paper is also used for budgeting, scheduling, contracts, post-production notes, storyboarding and many other tasks. It is not unusual for one movie production to utilize hundreds of pounds of paper for a film. This is where it helps to reuse paper and recycle more during the movie production process.

Recycling paper will support 35% less water pollution according to Wikipedia’s statistics obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Film companies can recycle paper to make new paper or reuse the paper for insulation, wrapping or other arts related projects. Much like we use paper for administrative purposes on film sets, it is also the way food is distributed to cast and crew members that contributes to water pollution. Some filmmakers and movie producers use Styrofoam cups and plates when serving food on their film sets. These items are made of expanded polystyrene beads. Expanded polystyrene cannot be recycled easily and takes a very long time to decompose in the environment. In fact, the use of polystyrene (or Styrofoam) for food packaging has even been banned in many U.S. Cities. Therefore, it is much better to use paper cups and paper plates when serving food to cast and crew members on a film set.

Movie producers operating on a larger scale budget may not be directly involved with food handling. Still, it is important to notify craft services and make sure that more environment-friendly items are being used.

Littering also contributes to water pollution. A lot of movie production companies are careful to keep littering at a minimum on film sets. This behavior is especially suggested for independent film productions, as the atmosphere on indie sets tend to be less restrictive among cast, crew and staff members. However, we could be littering carelessly and not even know it. That is because the most common forms of littering involve items that many cast and crew members do not pay much attention to.

Cigarette butts are the most littered items around the world, which is a form of inappropriate disposal of solid waste. Beverage containers are the largest element of litter. These items are used heavily on film sets around the country. Actors, Movie directors, cinematographers, Grips, Production Assistants and other smoke on film sets as well. While there may be ash trays available, many cigarette butts are tossed out during the production of some independent films. This is something that can be changed and placed under control to decrease water pollution for a better environment. The entertainment industry is not exempt from responsibilities and accountability for water pollution. Just because we are focused on making movies does not mean we should ignore how the environment is being treated.

This post in support of Blog Action Day has brought on the development of future posts this month on other forms of municipal solid waste and how we can improve the activities on movie sets in order to decrease water pollution and ensure a better future for the environment. Stay tuned!

All are welcome to post comments below including thoughts about your experiences on movie sets or by observing (by watching special behind the scenes features on TV or DVDs) behavior on movie sets that can be changed to help the environment and prevent water pollution.

Technorati Tags: Blog+Action+Day,, Action+Blog,, Water+Pollution,, Recycling,, Solid+Waste,, Filmmaking,, Hollywood

Who Else is lying about Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell?

Photo: BET Network

Within the last two months, fans of Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell have come across information about the male actor being homosexual and this couple getting divorced. This was all rumors, and very insulting at best. The October 2007 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine featured and interview with actress Tisha Campbell that exhibited a much different truth from what some media outlets have stated. This was refreshing, given that an earlier post discussed the false rumor behind Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell’s divorce and his so-called homosexuality. Hopefully, many people who are still concerned about this have read the October 2007 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine or found truth somewhere else in the media.

Sister 2 Sister Magazine/October 2007

The divorce and so-called “homosexual” lifestyle of Duane Martin is inaccurate and a very cruel rumor. It is ridiculous that anyone would start to put this information out in the first place. When I was first given the news a few months ago from someone who had the story in a newspaper, I was surprised that such a talented and seemingly happy couple would divorce and it was not easy to believe that Duane Martin would be homosexual. However, since it was in a popular newspaper that also covered professional sports and politics, the news appeared to be accurate. From this whole fiasco, it is evident now more than ever that we cannot go on something that is printed or stated in any form of the media, especially when it is about celebrities.

One Madlab Post reader commented with concerns about it being such a big deal if someone is homosexual. While that concern is understandable, my focus at that time was on the fact that Tisha Campbell was being led on. I like both actors and my whole point in the initial post (prior to finding out that this was all nothing but false rumors) was the fact that if someone is gay, then be gay. Don’t perpetrate an act like you are something else and you’re not. That was not a position for just Duane Martin…..that goes for anybody. If you are gay, then be gay. If you are heterosexual than be that. If you are Bi, or a Swinger, etc. and the list goes on. You get the picture. Be who you are and do what it is that you want to do, what makes you happy.

Both Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell deserve to be happy. Another reader commented on the earlier post stating that it is their business. That is correct, no matter what is going on in Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell’s life. No one can argue with that because when it really comes down to it, who really needs to know everything about celebrities. Should people really care who Paris Hilton is dating when we have lots of environmental problems and should see more news shows that cover progress with curing major diseases and health conditions? However, what is more important is the fact that such a rumor began in the first place. It is very cruel and no one should print information that they know is false. This is a married couple that includes two very talented actors that we are talking about here.

Outside of being celebrities, Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell are parents, friends, business partners and loved ones to many people that many of us do not even know. Cruel rumors such as the ones that spread all over the place in the last few months affect the people in their lives as well. Therefore, it is very upsetting to have pointed out information that was actually false. For those who are still seeking out this divorce and “homosexual” news regarding Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell, the time has come to get things straight. IT IS FALSE. Any other place that has stated these rumors to be true is still trying to keep negative information flowing.

Tisha Campbell has spoken out about this, so there is no reason to believe any internet website, newspaper, magazine, tabloid or radio host that speaks of these rumors. While reading the October 2007 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, it was disturbing to find out that these rumors have even spread so far as to include even more false details about Duane Martin. This has to stop. It has been taken to the source….Tisha Campbell-MARTIN who confirmed that these are mere rumors. Therefore, if you are still wondering about the two actors and have refused to look for the truth, here is your answer…NO, Tisha Campbell and Duane Martin are NOT getting a divorce, NO, They did NOT get a divorce already and NO, Duane Martin is NOT homosexual. The rumors about this couple must stop NOW.