ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

April 24th 2008

Monopoly Adds Solar And Wind Utilities To New World Edition

Toyota Prius now a token. We'll still take the shoe, er, sneaker.

Filed under: products — michael @ 2:30 pm

Goodbye Water Works and Electric Company! Hello solar and wind!

In an effort to accurately reflect today’s global perspective, Hasbro Games has decided to ditch the traditional CO2 emitting utilities present in Monopoly since the beginning and instead add some renewable technologies. The green elements will find their way into Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition. From the article,

“In a nod to the efforts of countries worldwide to increase the effectiveness and availability of renewable energy sources, we decided to feature Solar Energy and Wind Energy on the game board,” said group executive Phil Jackson.

As Cleantech quipped, “Hasbro did not disclose how the new utilities would produce base-load power or handle peak power demands. And the issue of storage technologies was not broached.”

Of course, not everyone is happy with the decision. “It just goes to show you that people take us for granted,” said Mark Butler, chairman of the Atlantic Canada Water Works Association. Aww, did someone not win the Beauty Pageant and miss out on $50?

Of course, gone are the days when you could pick up either utility for $150. Solar and wind will cost you $1.5 million each! Dare to land on an owned utility and you’ll have to fork over 10,000 times your dice roll. Damn you inflation! Damn you!

Globe & Mail via Grist

April 23rd 2008

Bessence: Sandra Bullock’s New Line Of Eco-Friendly Candles

Filed under: healthy living, products — michael @ 3:06 pm

Kate Hudson has her own organic shampoo and now Sandra Bullock has released a line of eco-friendly soy candles. Called Bessence, they’re made from plant and flower essential oils and contain no lead wicks. Even the packaging is made from organic and recycled materials. From her website,

“Every Bessence candle is poured, cleaned and packaged individually, by hand, using a specially formulated soy based wax, designed for our high fragrance levels. This meticulously crafted mixture is combined with eco-friendly 100% lead free paper wicks to produce an exquisite smelling candle that burns cleanly and evenly for up to 50 hours”

Bullock was on Oprah yesterday promoting the candles. She explained, “I started researching and you find out about lead wicks and chemicals in your candles. (Soy wax) is a renewable resource.” And Bullock is so happy with her new business, she joked that it could provide her with a second career: “(It’s) something to fall back on.”

Interested in picking some up? Prices for individual candles start at $40; votives are cheaper at $10. Jump here for more. The video from Oprah is below.

April 22nd 2008

The Green Picture: Kelly Rutherford Shows Off The Micro-Mini CFL

Filed under: campaigns, products — michael @ 9:37 pm

Kelly Rutherford, star of the hit drama Gossip Girls, teamed up with Sylvania to help the company launch their new “micro-mini” compact fluorescent light bulb at the annual LIGHTCongress show in New York. The bulbs are about 30% smaller than your average CFL. And here’s an amusing quip from the press release,

“According to a recent survey conducted by SYLVANIA, when asked which in their opinion lasts longer, a CFL or the average Hollywood marriage, 94% of Americans ages 25+ chose a CFL! The micro-mini can last up to 11 years (or about 50 percent longer than standards CFLs)!”

Want more? Hit their official site here.

April 22nd 2008

Lauren Bush Designs New Feed 1 Bag To Help End World Hunger

Filed under: campaigns, events, events: nyc, fashion, green and famous, products, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 3:40 pm

You know it’s a good thing I hide behind your screen everyday because the truth is I’m a pretty crappy dresser. I’m not bad like you can’t take me out, I’m more just a Casual Joe who prefers to live his life in jeans and a t-shirt. Anyway, I always get a nice chuckle when I find myself in the middle of a fashion event surrounded by clothes that hold powers far behind my capability of understanding. Such was so this Sunday when I attended an Earth Day event at Caravan in New York City.

The event was held to celebrate Earth Day and to promote Lauren Bush’s new Feed 1 Bag – which she designed in partnership with the World Food Program. The bag was on sale for 60 dollars and my source told me 20 dollars of that will provide school lunch for one child for a whole year. It’s not surprising that Lauren’s involved with the World Food Program, as she recently told New York Magazine, ““I’ve kind of stepped away from modeling to really focus on my company, on my nonprofit work.”

The event also featured a talk by Danny Seo and Sylvia Heisel which I wasn’t able to stay for due to an upper respiratory infection that was making me a definite party pooper. I also talked to a guest that’s about to open her own green business (which I’ll keep under raps…for now) and who just bought an apartment in Leonardo DiCaprio and Tyra Banks’ building. GROOVY!!

To find out more, or to purchase one of Lauren’s Feed 1 Bags, visit FeedProject.org!

April 18th 2008

Willie Nelson To Sell High-Tech Atmospheric Water Generators

Filed under: food & drink, green and famous, healthy living, products, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 4:54 pm

I think it’s safe to call Willie Nelson a pioneer in environmentally-friendly practices. Ecorazzi previously reported on Willie’s participation in Farm Aid, commitment to bio-diesel, and now, after canceling his bottled water line because he couldn’t stand the plastic bottles, Willie’s making the clean water industry a whole lot cleaner. 

WaterTechOnline.com is reporting that Willie Nelson has partnered with Ed Russell to produce Willie Nelson’s Water From Air, the Gulf Coast distributor of Wataire International atmospheric water generator units. 

So what exactly is an atmospheric water generator? Ok here we go, according to Russell, “the units generate water from the atmosphere, pulling moist air through a HEPA filter, and working much the same way a typical dehumidifying unit does, except that the newly generated water is pushed through a sediment filter, pre- and post-carbon filters, an ultrafine filter, and finally ultraviolet (UV) light before it is stored. Stored water is recirculated in the UV chamber to retain its potability.”

And that my friends his how you make some fine, eco-friendly, non-plastic wasting, environmentally sound aqua! Willie also has plans to team up with fellow country musician Merle Haggard to open a  California-based Wataire distributorship in the future.

Russell says that Nelson’s interest in the Wataire units is because “he’s totally green” — and we totally agree. Everybody repeat after me: WILLIE NELSON ROCKS!

March 28th 2008

Kate Hudson Develops Hair Care Line

Filed under: campaigns, green and famous, products, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 12:00 pm

Oh Kate, what DO you use to get that silky, shiny hair? What? You say you made it YOURSELF?

Good news for all you eco-sexy, animal loving, romantic comedy watching hair aficionados out there. Kate Hudson has partnered with L.A. celeb hairstylist David Babaii to create DAVID BABAII FOR WILDAID — a sassy new hair care line that’s free of sulfates, parabens, animal products and not tested on animals. Also, Kate and David will donate 10 percent of their proceeds to the global wildlife conservation organization WildAid.

WildAid works with governments and communities to try and reverse the wildlife devastation across the planet. Their mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetime and strive for a world in which local communities can improve their lives without destroying their environment.  

Want to sparkle and shine like the Hudsonater? Look for DAVID BABAII FOR WILDAID this summer.  Herbal Essence: YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

March 20th 2008

Hannah Montana Is KILLING YOUR CHILDREN!

Filed under: not green, products — parrish @ 10:32 am

Do you like my scare tactic title? You know you want ME answering the phone at 3am. But I digress.

Bad news for tweens everywhere! Yesterday, the Center for Environmental Health reported that high levels of lead were found in a series of Hannah Montana products on sale at Wal-Mart, Target and Toys “R” Us.

Paint from five of the twenty eight products tested — including a Girls Rock Backpack and a Secret Star wallet — had lead contents of 1,800 parts per million to 8,300 parts per million. What does that mean in English? Well let’s just say the federal standard for lead in paint is 600 ppm. EEK!

The good news is that Disney is still getting rich. The bad news is that high levels of lead can impair children’s learning ability and cause irreversible neurological damage as well as renal disease, cardiovascular effects, and reproductive toxicity.

So grab that neurologically important tween in your life and ransack their Hannah Montana Secret Star wallet. Because let’s be honest, the only secret in that wallet is the plastic poison it’s wrapped in. Pinky swear!

thanks for saving our lives: pagesix.com

March 18th 2008

New Celebrity Parents Go Green With Organic Baby Products

Filed under: babies and bumps, green and famous, healthy living, products, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 10:04 am

I was born in 1983 which makes me just old enough to truly appreciate the genius that was Punky Brewster. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I’m practically doodying my diaper over the news that actress Soleil Moon Frye has just given birth to her second daughter, Jagger Joseph Blue Goldberg (that’s really her name…I couldn’t make that mess up). Ecorazzi told you all about Soleil’s organic baby store The Little Seed, so you can bet your hemp knapsack that Jagger will be getting the full organic treatment.  

Not one to be outdone, Halle Berry recently spent $60,000 greenifying her new baby’s three nurseries (cause one isn’t enough). One source reported that she ordered everything from the sheets to the stuffed animals to be made with cotton that had never had a mist of pesticide on it.  And that, ” She’s obsessed with organic.” The organic craze doesn’t stop there!

Green baby lovin has hit reality television too. Trista and Ryan Sutter from ABC’s The Bachelor decided to go green with their nursery and used the help Lisa and Ron Beres from GreenNest.com to assist them. In the past, GreenNest.com has helped celebs like Chelsea Handler, Kelly Rutherford and Sally Jessy Raphael take the green route and insist that even people on a tight budget can make simple changes for a healthier home.

Okay, I’m way too young to have kids, but you better believe that when I finally do become a dad I’m totally gonna be the most organic, green, eco, earthy parent on the block…that is of course unless I live next to one of Halle Berry’s  three homes!

March 3rd 2008

Ellen DeGeneres Buys Her Own Dog Food Company

Filed under: animals, food & drink, products — parrish @ 10:09 am

Remember a few months ago when Ellen DeGeneres went kibbles and bits over Iggy?  While I considered her on screen outburst genuine and honest, most people thought it made her look crazier than Aretha Franklin in a double wide fur coat. Well crazy or not, Ellen loves her some pets and has decided to put her money where her mouth is…literally (you’ll get that joke later).

The comedian turned talk show host just recently purchased Halo, a well known natural pet food company, and will be producing her own brand of pet food.

Ellen told Parade magazine that her food is SO natural that even humans can eat it. She said, “Ours is all human grade. It’s all natural. And yes, you can eat it. People love their animals so much so that they put little clothes on them and necklaces and booties and things like that. And if you love your animal, then you should feed them something that’s not dangerous for them. There’s a lot of poisonous stuff that they’re putting in a lot of that food, those by-products.”

When asked what her pet policy would be if she were a politician, Ellen said: “My pet policy would be to love them and give them as much respect as you would give any living thing and treat them kindly. They’re innocent little souls that are filled with unconditional love. And we should give them the same.”

Good questions and good answers, but let’s not forget that ALL animals should be respected…not JUST pets.  If your dog (or you) has a hankering for some meat in a can, trot on over to Halopets.com.

February 25th 2008

Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone Wants You To Take The Green & Black’s Chocolate Challenge

Filed under: contests, events, food & drink, green and famous, products, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 11:58 am

For the past few generations, almost all the boys in my family have been allergic to chocolate until we are about 13 years old. Luckily, I’m 24 now and I can kill me some serious chocolate bar! So if you’re like me, and not only bow to the bean of deliciousness, but also crave all things organic, you’re gonna love this:

The super delicious organic chocolate company, Green & Black’s, has just announced an all call for the Green & Black’s Chocolate Challenge.

The Chocolate Challenge offers five lucky contestants a chance to win a private cooking session with Curtis Stone, host of the TLC’s, Take Home Chef. Furthermore, the winners will also receive tickets to the James Beard Foundation Awards-essentially the Oscars of the culinary world. To win some cooking time with Curtis, all you have to do is create a recipe (5 ingredients or less) using at least 2 ounces of Green & Black’s, take a photo of your prepared dish, and include an essay on your passion for organics and how your recipe wows your family and friends.

Oh but there’s more, chocolate lovers! For each valid entry received, Green & Black’s will build on its existing relationship with the Toledo Cacao Growers’ Association in Belize by supplying the members of its cooperative with funds to plant and grow one hardwood tree. These hardwood trees will provide the necessary shade to shelter the farmers’ cocoa trees and add to the advancement of their community’s economic opportunities.

So grab a Green and Black’s chocolate bar, visit their website, and get to work, Ecorazzi readers!! You know what they say,“ Once you go Green and Black’s, you never go backs!”