ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

March 31st 2008

Madonna’s Vanity Fair Interview Some Malawi, Zero Green

Filed under: magazines — michael @ 11:53 am

Is Vanity Fair taking a page out of our book? Should the term “green” be used broadly to also include humanitarian work? It’s worth asking — since it’s something we do all the time here for a site that follows “green gossip” — but it’s definitely a change of course for a magazine that prided itself on its annual ‘all-about-the-environment’ issue.

Which is something I was wondering when Madonna was chosen as the cover girl for this year’s green theme. She’s just not the choice many of us would expect. To that end, I was hoping that this would be Madonna’s opportunity to truly speak out on the issue, reveal her work to reduce her impact on the planet, inspire others to take action, chat up Malawi and her efforts there. Instead, the latter is given a couple paragraphs — sans even a mention of her foundation Raising Malawi. We’re then whisked into talking about her latest album, potential movie projects and, of course, Kabbalah.

To me, this interview could have run in any other issue. Perhaps Vanity Fair is running out of ideas when it comes to finding engaging green cover gals/guys — but like others have commented, it may just be a matter of selling as many as possible — and Madonna will get that done perhaps more than others. Still, I can’t help but be disappointed.

Read the full interview with Madonna here.

Photo credit: Steven Meisel

March 28th 2008

Complex Magazine Bombs With Green Issue Cover Girl

Filed under: magazines — michael @ 2:54 pm

What is going on? Have all the respected, earth-friendly celebrity ladies gone on a hiatus from the magazine world? With Vanity Fair choosing Madonna as their symbol of earth-friendly for their annual “green issue and now Complex mag choosing That 70’s Show star Mila Kunis for theirs, we’re seriously wondering.

At least Complex had the balls up front to say they weren’t going to bother asking Kunis anything remotely related to the environment to start with — you know, cause that would just be silly for a “green” issue. Instead, they asked her the juicy questions like, “What would you do with the power of invisibility?”

Man. What about some sexy Alicia Silverstone or Rachel McAdams? Hell, even Paris Hilton owns a hybrid. Or how about some Orlando Bloom, Adrian Grenier, or Brad Pitt for the ladies? So far, this year’s green issue covers are a bust.

via green daily

March 27th 2008

Madonna Is The Cover Girl For Vanity Fair’s Green Issue

Filed under: magazines — michael @ 9:38 pm

We’re just wondering, “Why?”

More to come on this juicy third annual green issue from VF…

via the fashion spot

March 27th 2008

Billboard Magazine Announces Top 10 Greenest Musicians

Filed under: green and famous, honors, magazines, music, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 10:04 am

It seems that nowadays every magazine has a “Green Issue”. And why not? Let’s be honest, green is the new EVERYTHING!!! 

So in the spirit of el verde Billboard Magazine has dedicated their entire March issue to all things green, including a list of the top 10 greenest musicians. Billboard says, “The Top 10 green musician activists from the past year were chosen by overall positive impact on the environment; the extent to which the artist integrates a green approach into all aspects of his/her career; perceived sacrifice of choices; and trailblazing nature/originality of ideas.”

Wanna know the Top 10? Drumroll please!

In order from last to first they are: 10. The Roots 9. Missy Higgins 8. Radiohead 7. Serj Tankian 6. Pearl Jam 5. K.T Tunstall 4. Dave Matthews Band 2. Mana 2. Willie Nelson 1. Jack Johnson

Bands were praised for everything from their choice to eat local and organic to fueling tour buses with biodiesel and raising money for eco-worthy causes. Also included in the issue are stories on the touring industry (from green merch to green venues), green instruments, green festivals and tons more.

Billboard’s Green Issue is on sale now, but if you just can’t wait to get your hands on a copy you can visit their website and get an online preview NOW!!!

thanks: seattlepi.com

March 24th 2008

Harrison Ford Is An Eco-Action Figure

Filed under: interviews, magazines — michael @ 1:48 pm

The April edition of National Geographic Adventure has a great interview with actor Harrison Ford on his environmental crusades. According to the article, since 1991, Ford has been a strategic guide for Conservation International — supporting “biodiversity research, protecting endangered species, and working to persuade corporations with a history of polluting the planet to become stewards of it instead.” Harrison opens up on lost worlds, tourism, and how a friendship with a fox turned him onto environmentalism. Here are some highlights:

On settling down in Jackson, Wyoming:

I went to Sun Valley, but it was too built-up for me. So my wife at the time and I rented a car and drove toward Jackson. I’d only heard about it, and we saw it for the first time from Teton Pass. I was blown away. We knew immediately that we wanted to be there. A number of people involved in CI [Conservation International] live in Jackson, and when I became a landowner there, I felt a sense of stewardship for the Earth that I hadn’t really experienced before.

On going where no others have gone before:

I went down to Venezuela and ended up renting a helicopter and flew with my sons to the tops of the tepuis, these freestanding jungle mesas, “lost worlds” as it were. In fact, it’s almost impossible to access them without one. So we were able to land and spend some time there. We were trapped for about six hours by clouds that came in. Unbelievable. Spectacular environments. Very likely places where no other person had ever set foot before.

How a development and an animal turned him into an eco-warrior:

When I was 12, we moved outside the city to former agricultural land where they built all these tract homes. There was an irrigation ditch, and next to it was this little oasis of nature where a fox lived. I would go out there often and sit by myself. The fox became used to me and would come close—ten, six feet [two meters] away. And I think there’s something about that experience that tilted me toward nature in a different way than a visit to a national park or something would. I was struck by the fact that these houses we were living in, these streets we were driving down, had displaced something. That more than us belonged there.

Check out the full interview over on Adventure!

March 6th 2008

The Green Picture: Tina Fey Gets Her Green On For Parade Magazine

Filed under: magazines, thegreenpicture — michael @ 5:29 pm

Next week’s issue of Parade magazine features Tina Fey on the cover biking it out with some cool boots. Inside she talks about her rise to fame on Saturday Night Live, her new baby (“I had to get back to work. NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement.”), and on her generation being tricked into trying to have it all. You can also check out some great shots of the comedian over on Parade’s site.

via just jared

Image credit: Andrew Eccles

February 26th 2008

George Clooney Worried Darfur Efforts Not Helping

Filed under: campaigns, magazines — michael @ 2:55 pm

“A lot more people know about Darfur, but absolutely nothing is different. Absolutely nothing.”

George Clooney has been involved in a lot over the past month attempting to draw attention to the crisis in Darfur. He’s had a 14-year-old border guard shove a machine gun at his chest, recovered from malaria, and been helicoptered out of N’Djamena, Chad, in a sandstorm three days before rebels sacked it. Not the standard lifestyle of a mega-movie star. But then again, this guy’s got a UN passport. “It says ‘Messenger of Peace’ on it,” George quips. “It’s very cool.”

In the latest issue of TIME magazine, reporter Joel Stein recounts the discussions he had with Clooney while having him over for dinner. It’s a great story (I mean, what would you cook for the guy?) and there are some real revealing frustrations over his activism and the effect, if any, it’s having on people. Here’s a highlight:

“I’ve been very depressed since I got back. I’m terrified that it isn’t in any way helping. That bringing attention can cause more damage. You dig a well or build a health-care facility and they’re a target for somebody.”

The organization Clooney helped create, Not On Our Watch, has raised more than $9 million so far. Obviously, it has to feel frustrating to have contributed so much, but be left with a growing problem that’s still in desperate need of support. I’ve no doubt that Clooney will continued to stay involved, but it’s only human to face such obstacles and wonder if it’s doing any good. Most likely, however, as with others that give, that kindness has been repaid a hundred times over by thankful people the world over.

Check out the interview to read more on Clooney’s electric car and why he refuses gift bags. “Rich famous people getting free s___ looks bad.”

Photo credit: Sam Jones 

February 5th 2008

Jack Johnson Does Not Want To Be The Next Al Gore

Filed under: magazines, music — michael @ 3:14 pm

With Jack Johnson’s new album, Sleeping Through The Static, dropping today, it’s only fitting that we discover something about the guy online. The latest was dug up from the current spread of Outside Magazine. Their green issue is now on stands (one of the best annual green issues you’ll find in the magazine world) and Jack is front and center chatting about music, green, and why he won’t ever consider politics to push his eco-agenda forward. Here’s a highlight:

“I’m not trying to act like I’ve got all the answers and that I’m greener than everyone else. I want to do what I can to help, but sometimes it starts to overwhelm me. It’s hard, because as soon as you put your voice in there, all of a sudden you’re the guy the newspaper wants to talk to. I accept the fact that I’m a somewhat known personality now and I like that I can use it for good things, but I ultimately don’t want to run for president.”

As Al Gore has proven, you don’t need politics to make a difference. Fame helps — but passion behind what you believe in can make a huge difference as well.

Hit Outside Magazine for more details on this month’s issue.

January 16th 2008

Madame Environmentalist

Heidi Fleiss Will "Hook". You. Up.

Filed under: business, green and famous, magazines — kelli @ 1:59 pm

Everyone’s favorite 80 pound ex-con (what, you mean you don’t have one?), Heidi Fleiss has announced her return into the business that made her rich and famous: she plans to open the world’s first legal, wind-powered brothel for women. That’s right ladies- you’ll be able to hit the spa and hire yourself a male hooker- in eco-style.

Heidi’s Stud Farm will be located on 60 acres of land she owns near Pahrump, Nevada, where she’s just opened a new laundromat, Dirty Laundry. Heidi’s one keen businesswoman - when she saw that many people in Pahrump didn’t have money to own their own washers and dryers, she immediately knew there’d be a need for a laundromat. In a similar vein, Ms. Fleiss sees an opportunity to sell sex to women AND wind power back to the grid.

The Stud Farm will be “an exclusive resort, and I’ll make it really nice like the Beverly Hills Hotel”, says Heidi. She’s reportedly been looking into green building options, because she doesn’t want “anything polluting”. She believes that women will come to her resort as they would for any getaway- “for bachelorette and birthday parties…or simply because they have the time and the money and they want to get a manicure, a pedicure, and a shag”, she says.

The parrot-loving madam says she’ll run her Stud Farm on wind power because “there’s a need for it”, refers to herself as a “treehugger”, and seems genuinely concerned that her beloved parrots were born into such a polluted world- to which her father replies that “the world is a beautiful garden. It’s just, people are destroying it”.

Heidi is certain that her new idea is a sure shot- and that once she gets her wind turbines up to harvest wind power on her Stud Farm, she’ll never have to work again. She seems confident that women will embrace her new sustainable venture, and given her past successes, she’s probably right. Says Heidi, “The only problem out here is the climate”.

Thanks to Jezebel.com and Elle.com. Full story can be found in Elle February 2008 edition.

January 14th 2008

Pierce Brosnan Dishes Out Some Green Kitchen Tips

Filed under: food & drink, green and famous, healthy living, magazines — michael @ 9:46 am

When he isn’t shooting films, disputing water rights with the elderly, or fighting for the welfare of whales, actor Pierce Brosnan is at home enjoying a potato and keeping a green kitchen. He recently revealed his food cravings in the February 2008 issue of Bon Appetit saying, “Potatoes-baked, mashed, roasted and boiled, or fried with cold sliced tomatoes. I could eat them every night of the week.  I can’t live without a good potato.  And Irish soda bread, hot from the oven with lashings of butter.”

Staying in line with his conservation and environmental beliefs, Brosnan is also quick to highlight key points to a greener kitchen. He handed out some tips for those looking to follow suit at home. From the article,

“‘Compost scraps - from banana peels to coffee grounds - and green waste.  Purchase a turntable composter and start a green waste pile that can fortify your garden naturally.  Purchase all-natural organic cleansers, recylced paper products, organic cotton, and non GM) (genetically modified organism) food products.’”

Respect! It’s great to hear of more celebrities beyond Ed Begley Jr. actually putting some effort into going green at home. Brosnan just finished filming the movie version of the musical Mama Mia! in Greece and will soon step into the well-tailored shoes of businessman/thief Thomas Crown to shoot the sequel to the ‘99 hit The Thomas Crown Affair.