ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

June 19th 2009

The Green Quote: Ugly Betty’s Ana Ortiz Will Have A Hip, Green Baby!

Filed under: babies and bumps — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 9:16 am

“My daughter’s just going to be really hip! My goal is to be as eco-conscious as possible: There’s so much out there for parents who want to do that. I plan to keep her eco-friendly as she gets older. I think we all sort of have to do it. I’m lucky enough to be able to do it, so we just have to drive the market toward it so it becomes more possible to make and more accessible to consumers. People will realize how much easier and better it is to be local and organic. But it’s just not available to everyone right now.”

–Actress Ana Ortiz in a new interview with Celebrity Baby Blog. She’s due with her first child on June 25th.

May 28th 2009

Tori Spelling Encourages Moms To Make Their Own Organic Baby Food

Filed under: babies and bumps, food & drink — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 1:21 pm

In a new video posted to MySpace, Tori Spelling is opening up about getting dirty in the kitchen — by making her own organic baby food. “People are probably like, ‘Tori Spelling doesn’t do that. She probably has someone that cooks for her,’” she says. “No, actually I don’t. … And I actually make my own baby food!”

When Liam Spelling, Tori and husband Dean McDermott’s first son, was ready for solid food, the actress says that she only served him jarred organic baby food. With her new daughter Stella, however, Tori went straight to the food processor — and she says the results were eye-opening. “She’s an eater. Like, she loves her bottle. She would take the [jarred] food and she was fine with it,” Spelling explains. “But once I made my own baby food … I literally gave it to her that first day, it was a spoonful, and her face lit up. She had this huge smile.”

Since then, Tori says she hasn’t gone back to the jarred food, which she notes “contains preservatives and is often bland.” Check out her full video below. Anyone else out there make their own baby food?

via People

April 24th 2009

Jessica Alba’s Vegan Easter Cupcakes For Baby Honor Marie

Filed under: babies and bumps, food & drink — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 2:15 pm

Jessica Alba appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently and dished a bit about her first Easter with daughter, Honor Marie Warren. Apparently, the 27-year-old actress tried to keep things healthy with “organic, dairy-free, egg-free cupcakes.” Unfortunately, the taste results were less than yum. From Celebrity Baby Blog,

While the cupcakes themselves were “awesome” and “moist,” Jessica says that the icing “sucked” — so she decided to take a detour from the health-food route, and opted for icing in a can! “It was like, all this organic stuff and then canned icing,” she laughed.

I can attest to having some really crappy vegan frosting — but there’s also some delicious alternatives out there as well. My recommendation? The book: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. Believe me, you will not be disappointed.

April 1st 2009

Soleil Moon Frye’s The Little Seed Now On Amazon.com!

Filed under: babies and bumps — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 10:37 am

Ok, enough with the April Fools jokes — this one is for real!

When I first heard early news reports that Amazon.com had launched a new eco-friendly baby store called “The Little Seed”, I was like, “Oh man, Soleil Moon Frye is gonna lay the smack down!”. Of course, on closer inspection, it appears that Amazon has partnered up with Frye to help sell her ‘Little Seed’ collection through their giant online outlet. What a fantastic opportunity for her business — and a great way to get even more green baby products out there to the masses.

While there’s no mention of Soleil’s name — there is small clue at the bottom right of the page with an image of her “Little Seed Blog” url. I guess Amazon won’t let her link directly to her official site?

via Ecorattle

February 27th 2009

John Lennon’s Sketches Being Turned Into Organic Stuffed Animals

Filed under: babies and bumps, products — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 12:32 pm

When last we spoke of John Lennon, he was headlining a new PSA for a laptop charity. We found it kind of creepy, since they had to do some digital manipulation to have Lennon talk about laptops — some twenty-eight years after his death. This latest tie to the former Beatle is bit more snuggly — and thankfully, the legendary singer is mentioned in name only.

A company called Dandelion, creator of earth-friendly goods for kids, has just announced a new collection of eco-friendly plush toys modeled after sketches John Lennon did for his son, Sean. Called the “Imagine A Better World” collection, it features a whimsical kingdom of Plush critters; where fabrics are made from organic terrycloth, soft velour, and touches of canvas, and stuffing is fluffy natural corn fiber. Even better, each elephant, giraffe, or rhino comes with its own organic canvas diaper bag.

The collection is not yet available — but it looks like the website’s online store will go live on April 1st. Hopefully, Yoko isn’t finding out about this just now…

via Ecorattle

February 26th 2009

Jenna Elfman Chats About Green Motherhood, Solar-Powered Future

Filed under: babies and bumps, buildings and construction, cars-houses — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 1:07 pm

The following is an exclusive preview of an interview between Ecostilleto and actress Jenna Elfman set to run on March 1st. Please visit the site next week for the full article!

We know her as Dharma and she’s married to Bodhi, but these days Jenna Elfman’s taking eco-consciousness to a whole new level in her work with Healthy Child, Healthy World, a national non-profit for children’s environmental health. We wonder where she gets the time: This year alone, catch this busy mom on the big screen in “The Six Wives of Henry Lefay,” with Elisha Cuthbert and Tim Allen and “Love Hurts,” with Janeane Garofolo and Carrie-Ann Moss. Elfman took a break to talk with www.ecostiletto.com about her eco-favorite obsession (and we mean that literally): Recycling. Here’s what she has to say about eco-friendly parenting:

ES: How do you find time to be greener while managing the demands of motherhood?

JE: I admit, I am not some perfect, green, mother person. But I do use planet/baby-friendly household cleaners, detergent, diapers, wipes, baby soaps/shampoos, flooring, paint, crib mattress and bottles. Plus, all the recycling. It’s a start in the right direction. I learned a lot since getting involved with Healthy Child, Healthy World. They’re awesome.

ES: What is your secret for staying centered and balanced while juggling work and motherhood?

JE: I really put my attention on staying present and just doing what I’m doing while I’m doing it! Otherwise, it’s easy to feel dispersed and overwhelmed when you’re trying to do too many things at once and you end up feeling like you’re never in the moment, because actually, you’re not. I find just staying present, but really productive, has helped me stay centered and balanced. Also, finishing those things once I’ve started them has really helped, too.

Click here to continue reading an excerpt from Jenna Elfman’s interview with Ecostiletto

February 24th 2009

Introducing Ecorattle.com: A New Green Baby Site

Filed under: babies and bumps — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 1:10 pm

As a new father, I’ve got all sorts of free time — which makes the launch of a new site like Ecorattle seem like a project of insanity with my day-to-day work here at Ecorazzi. However, I need some kind of outlet for all the cool things I’m learning about in the green baby scene, so here she is.

As you can tell by the site’s theme, we’ll be covering almost everything related to green parenting. As a guy leading this effort, I hope I can offer some perspective from that angle and get more dads to chat about their experiences. Obviously, this is a site for parents, so for those of you that have not yet crossed to that side, I understand if you pay a visit once and then move on to Perez Hilton. But eventually, I hope you’ll be able to relate to all the joys, confusion, and wonder that comes with being a mom or dad.

So, when you have a moment, come say hello to Ecorattle. We’re a bit naked still — and just learning how to walk — but hope to up and running more smoothly in another month or so. Oh — and we have a great contest running right now for the complete line of the Kiss My Face Kids line. See you there!

February 9th 2009

Erykah Badu Has Natural Birth For Organic Vegan Baby

Filed under: babies and bumps, web — Michael Parrish DuDell @ 8:52 am

“Labor has begun. Everybody standback. No hospitals. No doctors. No medicine. Were waiting on midwife to show up. I’m doing foot squeezes and foot rubs when the contractions hit…Ok… The midwife is here now and a few family members. Feels like a scene from the color purple. She’s dialated to 8 1/2 centimeters. Getting closer. She says she feels like she’s ready to push. Feb 1. 2009 my first child, my daughter was born at 1:30 pm exactly. Its the happiest day of my life.”

- Jay Electronica, Erykah Badu’s partner, blogging about the singer’s natural childbirth. Earlier this year Badu said she was raising her children as organic vegans. You gotta love a little vegan baby action, right?

February 1st 2009

Daryl Hannah Talks About Her Jail Time Defending LA Garden

Filed under: animals, babies and bumps, green and famous, interviews — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 1:35 pm

In an interview with the UK Sunday Mail, Daryl Hannah touches upon her desire to be a mom, her sustainable farm of rescued animals, and the experience of spending time in jail for defending urban farmland in South Central Los Angeles. Some highlights:

On wanting to become a mother:

“It is my fondest wish. That would be heaven for me. It would be best if I was in a relationship. But there are so many children in the world that need to be loved and it is better for them to have someone to love and care about them than nobody at all. So I could wait too long for the right situation. On the other hand, I don’t want to be one of those actresses who adopts a child and then goes off to work and leaves the child with somebody else.”

On her sustainable farm life in Colorado:

“There is no question of that, it is absolute bliss,” she said. “I have adopted all my animals, they have all been rescued. I have horses, chickens, alpacas, a pig, two dogs and cats.”

On her time spent in jail in 2006 for defending urban farm land in Los Angeles:

“For 14 years people had been growing their food there and the land was being bulldozed to make another warehouse. I had not planned to stay - I didn’t even have a sleeping bag - but when I found out about their plight I couldn’t leave. I stayed for three weeks and when they got their eviction notice I decided I would lay my body on the line.

“This was something of great beauty and inspiration that was worth fighting for. I knew being arrested was a possibility but I decided to stay and I think I was in jail for eight or 10 hours. It was not pleasant - the cell was tiny - but I was not worried for myself, I was concerned about what was happening at the farm. I would absolutely do it again, in a heartbeat. I was not in any way ashamed.”

To read the rest of the interview, jump here.

January 28th 2009

Alyson Hannigan Drops Vegan Diet For Pregnancy

Filed under: babies and bumps, food & drink — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 5:07 pm

Alyson Hannigan has revealed that geting pregnant made her crave meat — and ultimately drop her vegan lifestyle. “I basically went from being a vegan to… now it’s meat and cheese — and ginger ale!” she said at an event for her TV show, How I Met Your Mother. “Ginger ale, I love. Apparently, my mom craved ginger ale when she was pregnant with me! Maybe it’s a hereditary thing. But, yeah, I didn’t eat any meat or cheese before - now I have to.”

We covered other pregnancy-related veg shifts here on the ‘razz — from Jennifer Connelly to singer Carnie Wilson. As far as I can tell, there are no health-related issues with continuing a vegan diet during pregnancy. It seems Hannigan’s intentions for going vegan were probably related more to health than to animal activism. I’ve read some accounts of other vegan moms going through the same thing — but stopping short of giving in to their cravings simple because of the animal issue.

Anyone else experience something similar?

Photo: Alexis Denisof and Alyson Hannigan at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Presents An Evening With “How I Met Your Mother” on January 27th. Credit: PR Photos