Presenters for the evening included Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, Kathryn Morris, Ginnifer Goodwin, Olivia Wilde, Alanis Morrisette, Ed Begley Jr., Blythe Danner, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, Dana Delaney, Emily Vancamp as well as Dianna Agron and Kevin McHale from ‘Glee’. Razzi heroes Louie and Vicki Psihoyos also made it back from the controversial screening of their film The Cove in Japan for the event.

Amy Smart and Simon Baker presenting.

It was a pretty lavish shindig with vendors and screens lining New York Street on the Paramount Studios backlot. Tables were lit with faux votive candles, no paper plates in sight as well as eco-luxury gifts and a variety of gourmet and organic foods available all across the outdoor event.

Toyota and Lexus hosted the eco-luxury lounges.

The very excellent Melinda McGraw, from Mad Men and Hank, was on hand and we chatted a bit about how much there is to learn from pioneers like Ed Begley Jr. as well as what she’s been noticing changing on sets in the last ten years. McGraw pointed out that while many scripts are emailed these days it’s still hard to conserve paper with so many changing scripts drafts. Her pet peeve on set? The air conditioning on sound stages. “It does not need to be that cold,” she said. She also noted that she was decked out in all vintage for the evening.

I also caught up with the very talented actress and EMA board member Frances Fisher to talk about on-set habits. She said that because of the largess and temporary nature of film sets it’s hard to know what the better options are for something like craft services flatware. “What’s the impact of disposable plates versus the water used in washing all of these dishes?” It feels like there’s still a lot of assessment to be done on set.

Bill Nye The Science Guy and Ed Begley Jr. both agree that getting out of our cars is the single biggest thing that we can do to help the environment. Nye, back at the EMAs after a few years away, also said that he rides his bike everywhere much to the amusement of his friends. He also has a powerful solar set up at his house which allows him to sell electricity back into the grid.

Derreck and Beverly Joubert, National Geographic’s current Explorers in Residence (definitley in the running for ‘best job ever’) also launched the Big Cat Initiative last night which aims to protect the world’s big cats, starting on their home continent, Africa, but also spanning the world, bringing together governments and NGOs to save these rapidly vanishing creatures.

Along with honorees Branson and Mraz, winners for the evening included Better Off Ted, Brothers & Sisters, The Cove, Food Inc., Disneynature EARTH, The Lazy Environmentalist and Biz Kid$.

Highlights of the evening included a sneak peek at the upcoming 2012, Alanis working her way through Jason Mraz’s extensive list of eco-accomplishments and Cedric the Entertainer’s attempt to get the crowd to relax. I can also say that I hope that Blythe Danner and Sir Richard’s broken limbs heal quickly. What troopers!

Check out this exclusive clip of Jason Mraz performing “I’m Yours”.

The 22nd Annual Tokyo International Film Festival focused on ecology this year and welcomed their guests, including AVATAR’s Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington (pictured), on a green carpet made of recycled plastic bottles.

Although there were over 100 films screened at the festival, the most controversial was definitely The Cove, the documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in a secluded bay in Japan.  It seems that the film was originally not slated to play at the fest but according to the AP, “festival organizers added it at the last minute in part because of pressure from overseas.”

Cove director Louie Psihoyo, an American, plans to attend his film’s sold-out screening on Wednesday in spite of threats from Japanese police to arrest him for previous counts of trespassing while surreptitiously filming the massacres.

We’ll be keeping an eye out on Wednesday to see what goes down.

It’s always nice to start the day with celebs using more eco-friendly transportation.

Wentworth Miller, in a BMW Hydrogen 7 Vehicle, arrived in style Monday at the Fox Network’s Television Critics Association party.  According to the BMW website it is the ”world’s first production-ready hydrogen vehicle”.  Sexy.

Miller joins Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Davis, Kelsey Grammer, Ed Norton, Jay Leno and Cameron Diaz in testing out the new BMW.

I wonder if his character on Prison Break will be as equally conscientious.

via: justjared.com

Thankfully, it looks like the same sustainable practices implemented previously will be shown a seat for 2008 — with some extra initiatives thrown in as well. Grist’s Sarah van Schagen (and yes, Sarah. I was waiting with bated breath) did some digging and found a mysteriously buried press release on the official Oscars website. Here’s a bit of what we’re getting this year:

A few highlights of the Academy’s green program include:

>>With support from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, 100% of the energy used for the telecast, the red-carpet arrivals show and the Governors Ball will be supplied by renewable windpower.
>>All of the generators used for the production, for press support and the red carpet arrivals area are powered by a fuel mix that includes biodiesel.
>>Among the vehicles made available by General Motors for use by production staff and presenters are zero-emission hydrogen-powered cars and hybrids.
>>Food serviceware for all events associated with the Awards Presentation is either reusable or biodegradable/compostable.
>>The programs, invitations, RSVP cards, envelopes, parking passes and other printed materials include a minimum of 30% postconsumer recycled content.

Now obviously, they’re not going to be throwing a wind turbine up on the roof of the Kodak Theater to supply green energy for the event. We’re looking at offsets here — which are better than nothing. A mix of biodiesel is commendable, but we’d rather they’d have gone with Green Power Generators — a company that uses pure biodiesel generators and has a proven track record providing clean, green juice for Hollywood events. The waste management is great, the mix of GM cars “eh”, and the partnership with the NRDC rockin’.

They’re definitely not pushing the green details as much as last year, but having these efforts become a part of business as usual is best in the long term. We’re just thankful there’s something from last year that’s managed to stick.

Now bring on Joan Rivers and a large bottle of whiskey. We’re ready.

Last night, Global Green USA’s 5th Annual Pre-Oscar Party rocked out in grand style with a bevy of celebrities, performers such as Michelle Branch and Damien Rice, and a focus on the environment and sustainable design. While we had spies all over, we sent our main duo Pleasant Wayne and Damien Somserset to cover the action on the red carpet. That video is to follow shortly, but right now, here are some highlights from Pleasant:

1. Tate Donovan would ride his bike to the moon to work with Jennifer Aniston again. (old Friends co-star) He brought his bike on the “green” grass carpet and is a huge advocate for biking in the city.

2. Dana Delany had a non-eco PRADA purse, but said she recylces her scripts on the set.

3. Jason Lewis jetted past the press line and we think he was with his Mom. Aww…

4. Salma Hayek wore a Stella McCartney pantsuit because she said she is trying to lose the baby weight – “I’m not Nicole Richie, ha ha!”

6. Molly Sims was gushing about how Eco her boyfriend, Justin Chatwin, (from War of the Worlds) is….didn’t get her to speak as she was rushing into the party.

7. Sofia Bush would never date someone who isn’t into GREEN living. She was wearing earrings made of crystal stone and diamonds.

8. Taylor Dane was cool – she’s been taking her kids camping and teaching them how to live a softer-on-the-earth life even though she’s a New Yorker at heart. She has her heart set on a hybrid SUV.

9. Josie Maran was promoting her new all-natural cosmetic line – “Josie Maran Cosmetics”. She said her biggest passion was using eco-friendly diapers and gave some interesting facts about disposable diapers and landfills. She was with her friend, Rainbow, who was wearing a vintage dress and works with Adidas – they are working on developing some eco-gear.

10. Adrian Grenier whizzed past the “tabloid” section.

11. There was some speculation that Michelle Branch had a baby bump from our neighbor Press friends! She wasn’t interviewing as she had to perform.

12. Bill Mahr arrived very late and was driving a hybrid SUV.

13. Ian Somerhalder from “Lost” and many other projects eats organically and practices Yoga…what a cutie!

14. Thomas Ian Nicholas from American Pie etc. donates his time to children’s charities in addition to being active with Global Green.

More to come on this fantastic evening shortly!

When New York Fashion Week kicks off at the end of January, designers will be showcasing their new green designs- but that doesn’t mean lima-bean green will be the new black.

Some of the world’s hottest names in fashion- including Marc Jacobs, Versace, Jil Sander, and Narciso Rodriguez will join no-stranger-to-the eco-scene designer Stella McCartney to participate in Earth Pledge’s FutureFashion runway show, which will feature their one-of-a-kind designs made from recyclable, sustainable, and earth-friendly materials.

This isn’t the first year for the show, which promotes renewable materials and production methods, and eco-fashion no longer means you DIY a re-purposed burlap sack into a clever (but still unfortunately hideous-looking) dress. An ever-increasing awareness of environmental issues has definitely taken root, and socially and environmentally-conscious purchasing options can now be found at all your favorite shopping locales, from your favorite ridiculously cute but shockingly overpriced neighborhood boutique store to all the major department stores.

If you’ve got champagne tastes, but are forced to live on a beer budget, don’t feel too sorry for yourself. You can check out some of the designs featured on the runway in Barney’s Madison Avenue store window displays starting February 1st. Then you can sulk that while your burlap sack dress is eco-friendly, the one-of-a-kind garments featured in the show are pure eco-fashion.

Host Willie Nelson and wife Annie Nelson both clearly having a great hair daypose on the Green Carpet of the event they co-hosted.

Co-host Daryl Hannah rocks pretty hard for the cause.

Co-host Woody Harrelson looks ready to party in his hat.

Law and Order’s Ramon Rodriguez looks pretty comfortable with an over-sized guitar, no?

Other notable stars at the event included designer Kate Spade, Rosie Perez, Stephen Colbert,Natasha Bedingfirld, the group OAR , and Oscar Winner/Dancing with the Stars Alum Tatum O’Neal.

Oscar nominated actor Terrence Howard presented legendary Oscar and Golden Globe winning actress Goldie Hawn with an award and donation for her charity, The Hawn Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting children by advancing mindfulness training in educational, healthcare and community-basted settings. Also honoured were Spread the Net, Millennium Promise and Keep a Child Alive.

Other celebrities supporting global philanthropy at the event included Fran Drescher, John Legend and Chaka Kahn. Check out The Playing For Good Foundation for more information on this landmark international event for good.

After an hour and a half of watching the film’s interviews, startling images, and eco-hero Leo on the silver screen, The 11th Hour received wild applause from the crowd and a panel of environmental leaders came on stage to talk about the action we can take to battle climate change. Tzeporah Berman of ForestEthics, who was one of the experts interviewed in The 11th Hour was joined by Nina Simons of Bioneers (whose company was profiled in the film), Sarah Laimon of Green Ambassadors, and eco-celeb Sharon Lawrence of the TV show Monk. Sharon confessed that Hollywood was “a dirty industry” and could look into powering up with bio-diesel fuel, recycling paper, bottles, cans, as well as electronics, and get teamsters involved with greening production offices and sets. Nina Simons encouraged us to “clarify your passion for re-inventing the world” as there are many ways to get involved with protecting the Earth. Sarah Laimon told us to “empower the youth with solutions” and immediately after a bold young woman of the Green Ambassadors unscriptedly got on stage and announced that she would be a green leader in the future.

Changes, friends, they are a-coming. The 11th Hour will be released nationwide on August 11th.

Sarah Shewey is a contributing writer for ecorazzi and produces eco-friendly happenings for Pink Cloud Events.

Leila Conners Petersen, co-director of 11th Hour had this to say in a recent interview, “Cannes is an icon of waste and consumption, but it is also an icon of cinema, where the world’s attention is focused. While it’s upsetting to see all the waste here, Cannes also provides a unique opportunity to get the green message out.”

Truly, Cannes does provide one of those “inspiration with the entertainment” type venues; but resistance is met by organizers at almost every level to pursue eco-friendly alternatives. However, as the article points out, there are promising developments shaping up.

“For the first time, the American Pavilion has a carbon-neutral footprint, having bought carbon offset credits through the U.S. group Native Energy to match the energy it wastes. The AmPav also has a 40-strong “Green Team” of students trawling the international pavilion and Cannes hotels, collecting recyclables from festival attendees.

The Marche du Film, the market of film buyers and sellers that takes place during the festival, introduced its own recycling bins this year, another first.”

Unfortunately, that’s about it. Not one of the dozens of other pavilions scattered about the festival bothered to approach the American Pavilion for advice on how to reduce their impact. As another perfect example, that giant red carpet — almost 5,000 sq ft. of it — is pure plastic that’s ripped up and thrown away as soon as everyone leaves. Kenny Ausubel, founder of the environmental group Bioneers (who also makes an appearance in The 11th Hour) summed it up perfectly,

“‘Right now, I think that humanity is acting a lot like a movie star trashing a hotel room at Cannes, when it comes to the environment,’ Ausubel said. ‘Maybe that’s a message we should also get out there.’”

It’s interesting that with the Oscars and Golden Globes embracing green, that a major film festival like Cannes has yet to ride the wave. Considering the press green receives today, you would think it would be in vogue. Is it European high society indifference on the subject that makes is less than “chic” to promote? Or has the message simply not been made serious enough to trump the other green attracting all the attention?