Evander Holyfield is about to take on his toughest opponent yet — this time, outside the boxing ring.

The 47-year-old, who is still looking to retire as a heavyweight champion, is putting his sights on climate change — and turning his Atlanta estate into a renewable energy playground. “I guess I’m lean and green,” Holyfield told the AP. “I’m pretty much going to do all I can to fight against global warming. I’ll see what I can do to help and try to help other people who want to do the same thing.”

The four-time heavyweight champion is partnering with Global NES-Georgia to create a 40-acre solar farm, as well as a one-acre community organic garden. The total power produced with the new solar plant is expected to amount to produce approximately 645,000,000 (KWh) of solar power annually. “As a member of the boxing community and an elite group of champion boxers, I call on my friends in the boxing industry to take on this challenge too,” Evander said in a statement. “The failing state of our planet may be the toughest competitor that I have ever taken on but I am disciplined, focused and ready for the fight.”

This is a pretty incredible commitment — and I don’t think there’s another athlete out there (or celebrity for that matter) that’s been so generous in giving up their land for such a project. It’s little surprises like this that give me hope for the growth of renewables in this country.  We wish Holyfield the best in making his vision a reality.

The USTA has placed recycling bins next to every trash can at the Open, along with reducing their energy use and increasing their use of organic, green food. They are presenting two environment-themed Open T-shirts, one a girly “Green Your Game” style designed by Venus Williams, the other a grey shirt that says “Save Our Planet–It’s the Only One with Tennis.”  They will also be piloting a compost program in their kitchens this year.

“The USTA remains committed to ensuring that the world’s highest annually attended event has as little environmental impact as possible without sacrificing the unique attributes that make the US Open the premier tennis event in the world,” said Lucy Garvin, President and Chairman of the Board, USTA.  “These expanded initiatives will help keep the USTA, the US Open and tennis fans worldwide at the forefront of the global effort to preserve the environment.”

You can find more info on the Open’s developments here.  While discussing green issues, Baldwin also told the New York Observer that plastic individual drinking bottles are verboten on the 30 Rock set.  Apparently they each have their own reusable containers and “drink out of a cooler.” I’d love to be a fly on the wall around that water cooler.

Photo of Baldwin at an NRDC event earlier this year by PR Photos.

Yesterday news broke that Michael Vick has signed a two year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. I posted an editorial on our sister site, VEGdaily.com. Here’s how it went down:

Take a quick glimpse on the ol’ Facebook page and you’ll see that the veggie world is pretty fired up about the Philadelphia Eagles giving Michael Vick a two year contract. But you know what? I’m not. Now hold your fire and let me explain.

Dog fighting is an awful, terrible thing and should be without-a-doubt punished by law. And it was. Michael Vick confessed to the charges brought against him and served almost 2 years in prison for his involvement. He did the crime and served the time.

Now what?

The football player is free and has the right – just like any ex-convict in this country – to go back to work. Whether you believe him or not, Vick has shown public remorse for his crimes and has even agreed to work with the HSUS campaigning against dogfighting. What better educator than a reformed sinner?

Many of us choose a cruelty-free lifestyle because we believe that all animals should be treated with compassion. Let us not forget that humans are animals too. What Michael Vick did was horrible – hands down. But what would also be horrible is showing the world that those who stand up for the welfare of animals do not stand up for the welfare of their fellow man.

Michael Vick has the right to work and we have the right to give him a second chance. I choose that right. Even if it means I stand alone.

What do you think about this story? Chime in and share your thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to sign Michael Vick.

Surfline is reporting

O’Roarty is a surfing film icon who said: “I’ve been involved with Surfrider since 1984…however, when the Bush administration started rolling back 30 years of laws that protect our environment and basically declared a war on our natural world, I realized my greatest impact to affect environmental change lies in the media.” I think we can agree on that.

It’s not available to view yet but we’ll be sure to let you know when it is!

The mats are also “self-guiding” which I’ve learned means they have pictures of recommended stretches on them. not that they would find their way to you on their own, like, say, a missile.

Considering my notoriously poor coordination, I’m imagining that doing a stretch while trying to look at a drawing of the next stretch would turn my workout into a rather ugly game of Twister.  I think I might get one just to finally record my own FAIL video.

The LPGA’s Natalie Gulbis is also an Ambassador.

—-Major league baseball manager Tony La Russa discussing his choice to go VEG with Vegetarian Times magazine. Tony recently founded the Animal Rescue Foundation – a nonprofit organization that provides necessary services for abandoned animals. 

via: vegetarianstar.com

We’ve been dwelling on Justin Timberlake’s new eco-friendly Mirimichi Golf Course, but for good reason: the planning and implementation of the various green aspects continues to impress.

Since the grand opening over the weekend, even more has been revealed regarding the extent of the 28-year-old singer’s mission to create a site where “golf and nature exist in harmony.” For instance, only 85 of the 300 acres are ever mowed — leaving the rest to transition over to “native grasses”. Also, if you’re on the staff, prepare to love weeding — by hand. To limit the use of chemicals, a large portion of the weeds that do grow are pulled out using manual labor.

And speaking of chemicals — as Mirimichi is the first in the nation to be designated as a certified Audubon International Classic Sanctuary – its use of synthetic fertilizers is strictly limited. Surrounding each water feature is an invisible 25-foot barrier where Audubon rules ban the use of chemical fertilizers or herbicides. Where they are needed, the course uses organic or slow-release products to cut down on runoff throughout the property.

According to a Memphis paper, Mirimichi will use a mix of 80 percent native plants and 20 percent exotics. “Natives are great plants because they are used to our climate,” said head horticulturist Russell DeMotsis. “They survive when it snows in late spring and during the heat and drought in the summer.” Plans are also underway to build greenhouses to propagate the native species and provide educational opportunities for those interested in the wildlife and horticulture at Mirmichi.

Incredible, right? We’ve said it before, but congrats to Timberlake again for trailblazing a more sustainable golf course. We hope others take notice and steal a few ideas for their own links.

:: Mirimichi Golf Course Official Website

Considering the ESPYs is a straightforward sports awards show I was pretty impressed with their commitment to creating a sustainable event. Dubbed as “Environmentality” on their homepage, there’s a link which takes you to some behind-the-scenes videos specifically about the lengths they went to this year to ensure a lower impact show.

Here are a few highlights:

Red carpet made out of 51,000 recycled plastic bottles and can be recycled

All food and flatware was compostable including biodegradable water bottles

Low power LED screens, low VOC paints, 100% responsibly harvested wood to be reused or donated to Habitat for Humanity

Attendees staying at The Standard hotel had keys made of corn and a lounge with recycled furniture and the world’s first 100% recycled foosball table

Sounds pretty good but it seems that they forgot to tell anyone at the event.  I remembered today that my friend Adel, an all-around reliable source, had attended the event and, excited to hear about the ESPYs eco-love, I gave him a call. Turns out no one said a thing about the green effort, not even to the VIPs.

According to Adel, no one on the red carpet mentioned that it was recycled plastic, no announcement was made about the collection of waste oil or the composting effort and he didn’t see a single green water bottle in the place. “I thoroughly wish they had told us,” he said. “I appreciate that they’ve gone to that length. A lot of people would have been interested.”

The only thing that raised his green flag was a crowd of 10 to 15 ESPY staffers wearing jeans and light green shirts.  He thought they might be a “green team” or sorts but never found out if they were. Even a pamphlet or web link would have been better than nothing, he reckons. There was no shortage of promotion for the event’s two top sponsors though, natch.

While the reality of the ESPYs good work is really important, in a self-promoting town like LA it’s hard to spread the word by hoping that people might browse your website. As someone pretty entrenched in the Industry, Adel said he’d like to see “green” become a bigger part of the conversation in Hollywood, even suggesting the promotion of green content through something similar to a product integration initiative.

I think we both agree that to penetrate the mainstream you can’t just “walk the walk”, you need to “talk the talk” too. Thumbs up to the ESPYs for their low waste event, but thumbs down on a rather wasted opportunity.

I did notice that Jennifer Boulden from the venerable site, Idealbite.com, was there apparently on the red carpet. I’m looking forward to checking out how her work on greening the event and talking to the showgoers is going to be covered.

Photo: PR Photos

For those that keep clicking the remote when golf is on television, feel free to do the same with this post. However, if you have a love for the sport and are looking to try out something new, Justin Timberlake’s Mirimichi golf course is now accepting tee time reservations.

The eco-friendly course — the first in the nation to be designated as a certified Audubon International Classic Sanctuary — officially opens on July 25th. You can reserve your time now and avoid the rush by hitting up the new website here. Says Timberlake on the site,

“As part of the renovation of the course, I started asking questions about whether you can turn a golf course into an eco-friendly place. It turns out you can. The clubhouse will be Platinum LEED certified when it is complete and that is an extremely grueling process but very rewarding. While we have several initiatives that make Mirimichi eco-friendly, one of the greatest in my opinion is that while we use 80 percent of the energy we produce, we return 20 percent to the Tennessee Energy Grid.”

Jump here for more.

OK, raise your hands if you think vegetarians are weak and puny (we see you back there, Rupert). For those who have their hands up, Prince Fielder would like a word with you. 

Fielder is the 6-foot, 270-pound first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers with one hell of a reputation. He’s best know for hitting more than .300 with 22 home runs and knocking in 78 runs in the first half of the Major League Baseball season, which earned him a place on the National League All-Star roster.

Oh yeah, and just a few days ago he won the Home Run Derby, hitting the longest drive of the night (estimated at more than 500 feet).

The best part about this story: HOMEBOY’S A PROUD VEG!! WOOOOO!!! 

Yessiree, shortly after his wife shared a copy of Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin’s bestselling book Skinny Bitch the powerhouse decided to put down the cruel stuff for good.  

Reason number 5 million why we can’t get enough of the Skinny Bitch/Bastard series. 

Thinking about living life sans meat? Visit GoVeg.com and get your free vegetarian starter kit! 

via: hsus.org