ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

May 14th 2008

Mr. Norton Heads To Washington To Discuss Green Building

Filed under: buildings and construction, cars-houses, politics — michael @ 8:40 am

Actor Edward Norton is headed to Washington, D.C. to speak this afternoon on green building and discuss how more efficient buildings and better building policies can reduce energy costs and cut global warming pollution.

Speaking in front of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Norton will be joined by Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco, and other experts from the field of green building. Norton is a Trustee for the Enterprise Community and works to bring green building practices to low-income housing development. Most successful and talked about often here on the Raz is his Solar Neighbors program. For every solar installation a celebrity or other notable individual purchases, a person in a low-income area receives a system for free. Most recently, Actor Will Ferrell participated in the program, which resulted in a homeless shelter receiving a brand-new solar array.

We should be getting some video and photos from the event later on this afternoon — so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out our recent interview with Edward Norton here.

May 9th 2008

Ecorazzi’s Anna Griffin Interviews The Electric Chelsea Sexton

Filed under: cars-houses, ecorazzi exclusive, transport — michael @ 1:28 pm

As promised, here is the video interview of Ecorazzi’s Anna Griffin and electric-car star Chelsea Sexton at the Elle Eco Spa Bus tour. For additional details on the event, read our full article here.

May 9th 2008

Razzi Snap: Jessica Alba Shows Off Her Green Nursery

Filed under: babies and bumps, cars-houses, healthy living, interviews, transport — michael @ 11:06 am

We’ve pretty much reached the saturation point in covering Jessica Alba’s green nursery plans. But just to cap it all off (and kudos to the media for promoting her eco-ambitions), Celebrity Baby Blog have posted a full scan from US Weekly of Alba’s completed baby room. They also have a nice list of almost everything inside and where to buy it. Her baby girl is due late May/early June. [Check it here…]

Al Gore is once again under attack with claims that he’s pushing forward an “alarmist agenda” after he spoke on NPR’s Fresh Air. In the interview, Gore included the recent devastating Myanmar Cyclone in a list of current natural events that may be linked to Global Warming. The way media outlets like FOX and others have spun it, however, it sounds like he singled out only Myanmar as proof of climate change. You be the judge — have a listen to the radio clip here. [Part in question happens about the 27:20 mark]

Attention Celebrities! The next-generation Toyota Prius will be unveiled at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January of next year. It’s expected to be a bit larger, but have lower emissions than the previous model and a few more MPGs. With a barrel of oil now trading above $125, this can’t come soon enough. [Read more…]

Actress Laura Dern recently hired Green Life Guru, a Los Angeles–based environmental-services company, to evaluate the eco-fitness of her house. She was advised on solar paneling and water filtration — but realized greening the home-front just wasn’t enough. Now, she and a bunch of other parents are working with the company to help eliminate chemical-ridden carpeting and pesticides at their children’s school and introduce composting and recycling programs. Groovy. [via TIME]

May 6th 2008

Dwight Shrute Selling His Nissan Xterra For A Hybrid

Filed under: cars-houses, film-tv, television, transport — michael @ 11:49 am

On last week’s The Office, Dwight Shrute offered to buy Andy Bernard’s 2001 Nissan Xterra for about $1,500 less than what he was asking. Using pressure tactics, Andy gave in on the spot. Dwight then pulled a classic move and “flipped” Andy’s car up on Ebay for more than what he was initially selling it for. Hilariously, this is also now happening in real life.

The very same Nissan that appeared in the episode is now up for sale on eBay. The owner, who works as a hairstylist for The Office series, is auctioning off the vehicle so that she can trade up to a hybrid. She/He’s also including some goodies like a cast-signed script from the episode the car starred in, actual sides used during filming, and a prop handled by Dwight. This could be anything from pepper spray to a taser.

Interested in grabbing a piece of Office history? With gas prices headed north and the price of this Xterra also climbing (currently at $15,300), you might do better to pick up a t-shirt or something. But, if you feel the urge to support the Shrute Beet Farm, jump here.

May 5th 2008

The Green Quote: Christina Ricci Is Embarrassed Of Her Car

Filed under: cars-houses, transport — michael @ 3:15 pm

“Well, I live in Los Angeles so that’s a lot of driving right there. I had a sports car once - a Porsche 911. It was pretty awesome. I loved that car, but now I have a regular sedan. “I’m actually ashamed to tell you what car I have now, to be honest. (a Mercedes S-class sedan) I got into a long lease before I saw the Al Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] so now I’m embarrassed. But my lease has to be up before I can buy a proper environmental car.”

–Actress Christina Ricci in a recent interview with with the Times Online.

May 5th 2008

Tesla’s New Dealership Celebrates Opening With Celebrities, One Car

Filed under: cars-houses, transport — michael @ 11:41 am

Last Thursday evening, Tesla Motors — makers of the all-electric Tesla Roadster — celebrated the opening of their first ever retail store in Santa Monica, California. Celebrities in attendance included Quincy Jones, Jenny McCarthy, Anna Getty and Jenna Elfman. Also roaming around with a camera, and no doubt thrilled to see such an event happening, was director of Who Killed The Electric Car?, Chris Paine.

So far, only 4 cars have managed to roll off the production line — so that means Pitt, Clooney, Damon, and Schwarzenegger will have to wait a bit longer for their electric fix. Automobile Mag has a bit more on the retail plans for the company,

“Located in Los Angeles, Tesla’s first dealer - actually a factory outlet - occupies 10,000 square feet along Santa Monica Boulevard.  Carrying a price tag of nearly $2 million, the store portrays an airy, industrial feel, thanks in part to concrete floors, visible ductwork, and colorful illumination. That appearance will expand as Tesla opens five stores across the country over the next year.  An outlet at its Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters should be open in the summer, while properties in New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago could be functional by 2009.”

There’s some pretty crappy video over on Autobloggreen that almost looks like someone shot it with a cameraphone — but if you’re the tiniest bit interested in seeing what went down the other nigh, jump here to have a look.

May 4th 2008

Prince Charles’s New Eco Town May Be Cooler Than Disneyland

Filed under: buildings and construction, cars-houses, green and famous — michael @ 9:19 pm

We cover Prince Charles on the Raz a lot. So much, that sometimes we believe there can’t possibly be another interesting piece of his green career to write about. Of course, the Prince ain’t content to simply sit still, so here we are again with the dish that a new eco-town created by his highness has been given the OK to start construction. From the article,

“Planners have granted permission to build Sherford, a brand new town for 12,000 people, in South Devon that is billed as Britain’s greenest settlement. Work is expected to begin later this year to transform rolling countryside near Plymouth into the experimental new town with 5,500 homes. In Sherford, cars will be banned from some parts and 390ft wind turbines will loom over a 400-acre car park on the outskirts.”

Half the power needs for the new town will come from renewable sources — with all home sporting solar panels. Additionally, most of the materials to build the town will be sourced from a 50-mile radius! The business section — which will provides jobs for about 7,000 people — will be covered in either green roofs or “covered in a thin layer of rubble to attract insects and birds.” Everything about the town will be organized to encourage walking; not to mention all waste including water and sewage will be recycled to cut CO2 emissions. All of this, and Charles intends to give it a traditional English charm — with the theme being modeled on the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough.

How amazing does all of this sound? Charles is banking that this will be the future of urban design, saying he wants to, “build again the types of places we all know strike a chord in our, by now, rather bewildered hearts, however ‘modern’ we are – places that convey an everlasting human story of meaning and belonging”.

He might just pull it off.

Check out the full Daily Mail article here for more info.

May 4th 2008

Jennifer Aniston Has Green Plans For New Malibu Home

Will it come fully stocked with bottled water?

Filed under: buildings and construction, cars-houses — michael @ 10:24 am

Though she continues to plug bottled water, Jennifer Aniston is making plans to add some green into her life (beyond the three-minute showers she enjoys) with the construction of an eco-friendly pad in Malibu, California.

According to sources, Aniston was inspired by Julia Robert’s recently completed eco-home and now wants one for her own. We’re also going to chalk up some potential influence from her man of the moment, John Mayer. This is the same guy that invented a “laid-back” approach to environmentalism; one in which it’s ok to drive an SUV if you offset that by doing something good for the planet; like taking reusable bags to the grocery store or installing solar panels on your roof.

According to Star Magazine, the home will feature a solar-heating system, drought-resistant plants, all organic materials, plus an ocean view. Said the source, “Jen wants to help the environment and she has the money.”

I’m all for these green additions — but in terms of helping the environment, perhaps she could do a lot more to convince her Smart Water brand to go greener. It’s not realistic to suggest she drop it — that won’t happen — but truly, she could have some impact encouraging the company to be more sustainable. Biodegradable bottles? Offsets? Portion of sales going towards an environmental charity?

What do you think about Jen’s green home plans?

National Ledger via Green Daily

May 2nd 2008

Arnold Schwarzenegger Jet Commute Update!!

Filed under: not green, politics, travel — parrish @ 3:30 pm

Remember a couple months ago when Ecorazzi told you about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daily 380 mile jet commute to and from work? We took a poll and 77 percent of our readers said that Arnold needed to start walking the walk and give up the damn jet already. Well now it looks like he might just have no choice.

Santa Monica – the city Arnold flies into each day – is fighting to eliminate the landing of all jets in their small, local airport that was originally designed for propeller plains only. The ban would apply to jets that land at speeds of 120 knots (138 miles an hour) or faster which city leaders fear aren’t safe for some residents that live nearly 300 feet away. The FAA disagrees saying, “The airport’s 5,000-foot runway is safe and there’s never been a jet accident.”

This isn’t the first time the city of Santa Monica and the FAA have fought over the aiport and Santa Monica might even have plans to shut down the airport down entirely in 2015 when their contract with the FAA expires.  

True, if the ban passes Arnold would probably just take a helicopter to work instead of relocating or finding a more eco sensitive means of transportation, but at least jet traffic would decrease overall.  The judge is set to rule on May 15th, so stay close! We’ll bring you more information as we learn it!

thanks: bloomberg.com

May 2nd 2008

Andie MacDowell Purchases Property In “Green” Mountain Community

Filed under: buildings and construction, cars-houses — michael @ 11:06 am

Actress Andie MacDowell is getting ready to build a new home in the environmentally-friendly mountain community of Balsam Mountain Preserve, North Carolina. The 4,400 acre development is heavily focused on conservation with 3,000 acres of protected land and 354 home sites. According to the Wall Street Journal, the houses — at elevations from 3,000 to 4,700 feet — can’t be larger than 4,500 square feet and “must use materials that blend the building into the environment.”

MacDowell originally threw down $1 million for a vacant lot just under two acres in size, but has since swapped her property for one of the community’s largest lots; which at 3.5 acres can accommodate a pasture and small barn. Apparently, the property also connects to the community’s equestrian center through a series of trails.

I have no idea if the building materials for the home must be sustainable as well as ‘blended’, but at least the development itself is highly respectful of the nature around it. We’re hopeful Andie will incorporate some eco-friendly elements into her new diggs.

via Wall Street Journal