ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

September 6th 2008

The Green Picture: Paris Hilton Is A Tree Hugger

Filed under: fashion, green and famous — lori @ 8:09 am

You know those cardboard tree air fresheners for your car?  “What if this was the only tree left to hug?” is the message Paris Hilton poses to the world through her paparazzi pic.  Though the message seems inspired by the Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax”, the shirt is an adorable 100% certified organic cotton T from Threads for Thoughts.  If you want to be like Paris, visit tobi.com to buy from their clothing line.

via: whiteapricot.com

September 5th 2008

Cake Invests In A Solar Groove For Their Studio, Latest Album

Going the distance...

Filed under: music — michael @ 11:54 pm

One of my favorite bands, Cake, has pulled a page out of Jack Johnson’s playbook and taken their recording studio in Sacramento, California off-grid with a new solar array. “Working on a new album, we feel satisfaction in the common denominator of together embracing the unlimited resource of the sun,” they wrote on their website.

While I’ve enjoyed the band’s music for years (you might best know them from their song “Going The Distance”), I never realized how environmentally-conscious they are. There are very few other groups out there that talk about Jatropha, “Cradle to Cradle”, Car pooling, the detriments of bottled water and many other topics on their News page. Hell, they’re even quick to debunk the whole off-shore oil drilling scheme currently being proposed by Republicans. Brilliant.

So kudos to Cake for moving beyond discussion and actually addressing their own impact. A solar-powered recording studio may not change the world, but the music coming out of it certainly sounds a lot sweeter.

Check out more — including a cool video made by the group at their official site here.

September 5th 2008

Giveaway: VegNews Gift Pack May Just Take The Vegan Cake

Filed under: contests, magazines — michael @ 2:14 pm

We’ve yet another delicious gift pack for you today, this time from the fine folks over at VegNews. Since 2000, this magazine has been making waves in the vegetarian/vegan community as the primo source for the latest in living a compassionate and healthy lifestyle. You don’t even have to be a member of the veg crowd to enjoy everything their publication has to offer — though we’re pretty sure you’ll be inspired after one read to give it a go!

Today, we’ve got two VegNews “Oh My, I Want One!” gift packs to give away. Each one includes their signature over-sized tote bag, a one-year subscription, six jumbo vegan cookies, a cotton tee, and the current edition.

You like? Tell us why you love being a vegetarian/vegan — or if you’ve not yet fully transitioned yet to the other side, what you’re doing in your own life to eat healthy and cut meat from your diet. Two comments will be selected to win! Complete rules and giveaway details are available here.

Also, don’t forget! The giveaway for the Clif Bar gift packs is still happening! Enter to win here!

September 5th 2008

Sheryl Crow Designs An Environmentally Friendly ‘Better Bag’ For Whole Foods

Filed under: green and famous, products, shopping — parrish @ 1:12 pm

A quick tip: the fastest way to get eye-rolls and groans from your fellow grocery shoppers is to stand in line with a cart full of food and no reusable bag in site. In fact, if I perchance think a fellow line dweller is cute and I see her opting for the world-killing plastic alternative, she will lose an immediate 3… possibly 4 points on the dreamy scale. And I think it’s safe to say that Sheryl Crow feels the same way.

Crow has teamed up with Whole Foods and designed A Better Bag – a signature reusable bag created in support of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Simple Steps program. The tote features a charcoal sketch of a tree with words written by Crow and is made from 80 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles with each bag representing approximately four 20-ounce plastic bottles.

Sheryl has been an environmental advocate for years and says: “I am a big believer in doing what you can, even if it’s something as small as reducing the amount of plastic we each use daily that ends up in landfills, whether it is plastic bags, water bottles or product packaging. I’m so happy to be working with Whole Foods Market on this project.”

So head on down to your local Whole Foods, grab a vegan muffin and get yourself a Sheryl Crow designed reusable bag. Because saving the planet is just frigin sexy!

[Update: The bag will be available October 15th]

September 5th 2008

Jessica Alba Is Loyale To The Environment With Bamboo Tunic

Filed under: fashion — michael @ 12:39 pm

Actress Jessica Alba was spotted picking up some food from Kokomos in Hollywood, California Wednesday after leaving Cedars Sinai Hospital. The actress recently gave birth earlier in the summer to a girl named Honor Marie Warren.

Showing her green cred, Alba is wearing a 100% bamboo york tunic by Jenny Hwa, the designer of Loyale clothing. The company is one of the few out there with the environment as their fashion platform for sustainable, chic designs using organic cotton, bamboo, and other green materials. They also donate 3% of their annual profits to Green Corps, a non-profit that trains the next generation of environmental leaders.

Want to pick up the top? It’s available from BTC Elements in a variety of sizes. For more information, check out the official Loyale site here.

Photo credit: INF Photo

September 5th 2008

Celebrity Supporters Party Down At The Animal Acres 2008 Gala

Filed under: animals, events, events: la, green and famous — parrish @ 11:52 am

What do you get when you put a few Hollywood celebs on a farm with a bunch of rescued animals? No, this isn’t the beginning to some sort of corny joke Uncle Steve might tell at Christmas dinner, it’s the introduction to my piece about the Animal Acres Gala!

Animal Acres is one of the leading farm sanctuaries in the country and will host a gala this Saturday on their sprawling property just 40 minutes from Hollywood. The event boasts delicious vegan food, great speakers, an award ceremony and of course plenty of famous faces.  In fact, Animal Acres has a slew of celebrity supporters, including such well known names as Daryl Hannah, Casey Affleck, Thora Birch, Ellen DeGeneres, James Cromwell, Bill Maher and Alicia Silverstone.

All proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Animal Acres Emergency Rescue Fund to raise funding to build a 14-stall Rescue Center barn to significantly increase the sanctuary’s rescue and rehabilitation efforts for suffering farmed animals.

While the Gala appears sold-out, there are plenty of other exciting farm events that happen all year round! For more information on why I have a sanctuary crush on Animal Acres, visit animalacres.org!

September 5th 2008

Seinfeld Of The Future Impacted By Global Warming, Rising Sea Levels

Filed under: film-tv, television — michael @ 11:33 am

American comedian Frank Caliendo is known for his impersonations — and in the following clip he gives a hilarious look at the upcoming show Seinfeld 2027 A.D.

As if George Costanza didn’t have enough to stress about — now he’s faced with global warming and rising sea levels. “You said Al Gore was crazy, Jerry! Well, who’s crazy NOW?!!”

Trust me, you will find this guy’s talent just as incredible as his humor is funny. Check it out below:

Thanks Linton!

September 5th 2008

Ecorazzi Gets Fashionably Green At The Be Eco Chic Launch Party

Filed under: events: nyc, fashion, green and famous — parrish @ 10:43 am

What’s your definition of eco chic? Wanna know mine? My definition of eco chic is taking the A train uptown to the American Museum of Natural History and going to a fancy environmentally aware fashion show sponsored by green companies and shock full of eco-celebs. At said party I might even drink expensive wine, say hello to Adrien Grenier and watch stars model the latest and greatest eco-clothing amongst some of New York’s top fashionistas.

Yes Ecorazzi readers, you guessed it! Last night I had the privilege of attending the Be Eco Chic fashion event at none other than New York City’s famous American Museum of Natural History. The evening was a blast and besides the Adrien Grenier siting, I spotted Chevy Chase, Dominque Swain, Coltrain Curtis and many more famous faces who all came out to support green fashion.

As the show began our hostess Angela Lindvall reminded us that being green doesn’t mean you can’t be fashion forward. And even though I myself dress like a clueless straight dude, after watching a runway full of eco outfits by designers like Chado Ralph Rucci, DKNY, Carmen Marc Valvo, Nicole Miller and Loomstate, I seriously thought about learning a thing or two about fashion.

Besides hob-knobbing with New York’s elite, I also got the chance to say hello to some of Ecorazzi’s nearest and dearest, including our friends at 360 Vodka, Bradford Rand (founder of the Go Green Expo), and the folks at the Sierra Club.  As the night winded down we were treated to a performance by Jon McLaughlin — who I have to say was frigin fantastic – and then invited to a glorious after party that, sadly, I wasn’t able to make. Of course on hand was one of Ecorazzi’s most fashionable photographers, Melissa Rosenberg, who managed to get some great shots from the evening.

As always, we here at Ecorazzi are more than happy to bring you the exclusive scoop from one of New York’s most exclusive events. Now go change those clothes and GET ECO CHIC!

Photo credit: Melissa Rosenberg

September 5th 2008

The Green Quote: Vegan Singer Nellie McKay Is A Junkatarian

Filed under: food & drink — parrish @ 10:37 am

“I’m a junkatarian meaning I’m vegan to the best of my ability but I like to order French fries all the time. To displace feminism, I don’t like to cook much so I order out a lot and often I order French fries. I find being a vegan very hard. It’s a huge pain in the ass, everyday I try but it’s hard. But if everyone cuts down just a little, like cut one meat product out of your life or cut back a day of meat a week, that will make a change. I finally decided to become a vegan while I was eating a Sunday at Denny’s, I thought it’s time, I know whats going on, I need to make a change, it needs to happen. The animals, if they could, they’d thank you.”

- Vegan singer (and one of my celebrity crushes) tells the audience at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

via: fantasticweapon.com

September 5th 2008

Bindi Irwin Launches New RENEW Eco Fashion Line

Filed under: animals, fashion — michael @ 9:44 am

It’s a fair assessment that Bindi Irwin is potentially the most driving force in the field of eco-friendly fashion for kids. She’s basically a 10-year-old version of Stella McCartney — but with an even greater commitment to donating proceeds from the sale of her line to the environment.

Did we mention she’s only 10-years-old? I could barely match my socks at that age.

Launching today internationally is Irwin’s new RENEW ‘restore the planet’ line — which is made entirely from second-generation cotton. Huh? No organic cotton? Well, according to the press release, it’s even better than organic because it results in less pollution, chemicals and requires less energy and water as opposed to the heavy global footprint of conventionally-grown cotton. Bindi says of the new range, “I am always talking about re-using and replanting to renew the earth so this is a great way to get my message out. I am so excited about the range!!” The main slogans featured in the range - “Restore the planet” and “Reduce your ecological footprint” – are combined with Bindi Wear International’s own version of the well known recycle logo, replacing arrows with croc feet.

A portion of the proceeds will directly support Australia Zoo’s wildlife conservation programs. In the US, you can pick up your own RENEW goods at Zappos — which expects to have the clothing in shortly. More info is available at the official site.

Side note: If Bindi pulled that snake trick on me, I’d still be in therapy.