ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

July 31st 2008

Wearing Fur is a Ten Yard Penalty, Sir!

Filed under: events, fashion, festivals, not green, sports — lindsey @ 10:35 am

The 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival is in full swing this week. Who knew?

PETA knew, that’s who. As part of the festivities leading up to the official enshrinement of the players, the schedule of events includes a fashion show. Word leaked out that the organizers of this fashion show were planning on trotting a few real fur pieces down the runway. Thankfully, PETA has stepped in and sent a letter to Hall of Fame interim executive director Ron Dougherty to encourage him to pull the fur pieces, reminding him of a few very well known designers who do not use fur.

“Dozens of designers and retailers–including Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein, Marc Bouwer, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, Ann Taylor, and Jones New York–refuse to use or sell fur.”

Now, despite being somewhat challenged when it comes to all the nuances of football, I do understand a few simple basics. I get that a football is called a “pig skin”, and for obvious reasons despite alternatives being available, but I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around what the heck a fashion show has to do with people about to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even more comical, perhaps, is the description of the event on the 2008 Festival Guide :

Spectators are known to dress to the nines for the stylish event. Flashy outfits and fashionable hats are often seen in the crowd.

Having read that, were I attending, I would certainly be sure to bring my flashiest, most fashionable, and presumably biggest, hat to this event. Maybe it could even be a hat with an anti-fur banner fluttering from the top. Oh, the possibilities!

via: PETA Media Center

July 18th 2008

Sarah Jessica Parker Promos Cancer Research

Filed under: campaigns, sports — sara @ 8:04 am

Tuesday night, Sarah Jessica Parker joined Sheryl Crow and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in delivering a PSA on cancer research before the All-Star Yankee game. Their mission? To raise some funds for the cause. Their result? Raising a hullabaloo about Parker’s missing mole.

Parker, 43, has sported her trademark chin mole in films from The First Wives’ Club to Sex in the City. While the press has been going ga-ga over Parker’s new smooth slick chin–and the lack of a big announcement that the mole bit the dust–I say you go, Sarah J, and ride off into the setting sun as you fight cancer.

Mole-less chin and all.

To find out more about Major League Baseball’s new partnership with the organization Stand Up To Cancer, jump here.

July 16th 2008

Schwarzenegger Names Bo Derek to Horse Racing Commission

Filed under: animals, sports — lori @ 12:45 pm

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has named animal rights activist Bo Derek to the California Horse Racing Board. Bo is a long time horse lover who has been lobbying Congress for the last five years to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption!  Human consumption?! According to the Animal Welfare Institute, over 100,000 horses are killed each year and shipped to Europe and Japan to go on dinner plates!! It’s great to know such a strong vocal advocate for our equine friends will be watching over horse racing.

via: news.yahoo.com

July 16th 2008

Beyond Zebra Scores With The ESPY Awards

Filed under: events, events: la, film-tv, honors, sports, television — meghan @ 12:43 pm

ESPN’s annual celebration of the year’s best moments in sports will get a green boost this year.  The network has enlisted the help of Beyond Zebra, Inc., a certified woman-owned ad agency specializing in eco-friendly merchandise and promotional gear, to create an environmental message for the ESPY Awards. BZI has produced 100% EcoSpun (post-consumer recycled soda bottles) lanyards, biodegradable sport bottles, and sustainable bamboo/charcoal apparel for the behind-the-scenes and celebrity crew of the show.  Host Justin Timberlake and presenters Lance Armstrong and David Beckham, along with more of the world’s biggest athletes and celebs, will receive the goodies. BZI even provided bicycle shirts for the ESPY bartenders, whose mixing and blending activities will be powered by bicycle. What message that sends about biking under the influence is unclear, but who wouldn’t want to enjoy a freshly-pedaled margarita?

The ESPY Awards take place tonight and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN HD July 20, 2008, at 9 p.m./ET.

July 14th 2008

Major League Baseball Rolls Out A Crazy Long Green Red Carpet

Filed under: sports — michael @ 1:50 pm

Tomorrow (July 15), one of the longest—and greenest—red carpets ever created in the United States will cover 18 blocks of Manhattan. It’s all part of Major League Baseball’s unprecedented league-wide greening initiative — and comes in honor of the 2008 MLB All-Star Game.

Baseball heroes such as Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, and Willie Mays (along with the American League and National League All-Stars) will parade down the more than 95,000 square feet of recycled carpet — with 100% of the electricity used to produce the material made generated from an on-site solar array and green energy credits.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is working with MLB to ensure everything is done as eco-friendly as possible.

Couple questions here:

Do we really need a carpet (recycled or otherwise) that stretches over 18 blocks? Couldn’t these people use, say, the actual street to walk on?

Where will this carpet go next?

And we’re once more disappointed that MLB decided to partner up with Chevy’s FlexFuel Silverados to deliver players and their families to the red carpet. Nothing like showing off a truck that gets 14-16MPG during a time of high oil prices and claiming that its “green”. FAIL.

July 14th 2008

U.S. Olympic Swimmer Speaks Out Against Shark-Finning

Filed under: sports — lori @ 12:24 pm

The Beijing Summer Olympics are just weeks away from invading the media, and U.S. super swimmer Tara Kirk is using the Olympic spotlight to draw awareness to the horrible-sounding practice of shark-finning. Apparently shark fin soup is very popular in China, and the harvest method is to catch the shark, cut off the fin, and throw it back in the sea to die. Soup or salad?  Salad!!!

WildAid is a non-profit working to end illegal wildlife trade, and they have made several public service announcements with Olympic athletes to promote wildlife protection, watch Tara’s video here:

via: wildaid.org

July 2nd 2008

Jackie Chan Encourages Peace In Timor-Leste

Filed under: sports, video — parrish @ 8:45 am

Jackie Chan recently spent some time in Timor-Leste and spoke with the youth about using martial arts as a peaceful, unifying force. Timor-Leste has recently seen a wave of violence and marital arts, which once served as a method of sport, is now being practiced more frequently for acts of crime and violence. Check out the what Jackie has to say in the video below. 

June 12th 2008

Ultimate Fighting Champion Reveals His Knock-Out Vegan Diet

Filed under: food & drink, sports — michael @ 3:27 pm

A couple weeks back, we profiled Mac Danzig — a finalist in Men’s Health magazine’s profile of the “25 Fittest Guys In America”, and a competitor on the show The Ultimate Fighter. What makes Mac unique amongst all the other fit finalists is that he’s a vegan. Since we dig that, we thought we might share a bit more.

Danzig received so many inquiries into his diet that he’s posted an in-depth look at how he stays in shape, along with what he eats to remain in peak form. Here’s a highlight:

“For the record, I cut dairy completely out of my diet in 1999 (over 5 years before I ever committed to a full-Vegan diet)… This was due to an allergy that I developed in my adolescent years to dairy that effected my sinuses and everything connecting to them. For a good part of my teenage years, I suffered from severe ear infections and chronic Vertigo (which is completely miserable). It took me a few years of to finally realize that the antibiotics were only temporarily subduing a much bigger problem. I did my research and finally found the source.

A lot of people don’t realize how hard milk, whey, and other dairy products are on the sinuses and respiratory system, and the dairy industry would like you to believe that you need milk to get calcium. That notion is as oxymoronic as you can get. Although not everybody has as severe an allergy to dairy products as I did, I just wanted to point out that after years of battling with ear and sinus infections, eliminating dairy completely cured my problems. Anyone with similar problems may want to try it for a while.”

Jump here to take a look at the full post — and perhaps grab some tips on how to cut meat and dairy out while still leading a healthy (and strong) lifestyle. 

May 20th 2008

Razzi Snap: Salma Hayek Takes A Tour Of New Orleans Eco Home

Filed under: buildings and construction, cars-houses, green and famous, sports, web — michael @ 4:20 pm

Actress Salma Hayek recently took a tour of Global Green USA’s first completed green home in the devastated Lower 9th Ward. A supporter of the organization, Hayek remarked that the home has great value as a symbol of hope for the entire region. “This house was built with so much love and it was the dream of a collective group of people who are trying to change things in the world. I think that what has happened here has been a wake up call and the courage and dignity from the people who have faced this tragedy has been something that will motivate all of us,” she said. [Read more...]

Sporting icon Yao Ming has been criticized by the Chinese people for not donating enough to the recent earthquake disaster. Ming, who makes more than $55 million a year, initially only gave away $70,000 to a relief fund. “He’s been drinking milk and eating bread (like an American) for a while and he’s forgotten where he comes,” one posting said. “You are Chinese!” Ouch. Ming has since caved to the pressure and upped his donation above $250,000. [Read more...]

Treehugger.com contributor buys an SUV. Decides to write about why. All hell breaks loose. 137 comments later, guy is beaten, bruised, and shamed. Awesome decision. [Read more...]

Autobloggreen put together a nice photo collection of celebrities riding around on scooters. You know you’re somewhat interested…[Read more...]

April 18th 2008

SHARK Vs Cheyenne Frontier Days: Round One!

Filed under: animals, sports — parrish @ 11:29 am

Uh-Oh!!

A few days ago Ecorazzi told you that Matchbox 20 pulled out of Wyoming’s Cheyenne Frontier Days festival — the world’s largest outdoor rodeo — after the animal rights group, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), sent them video footage of alleged animal abuse from last year’s rodeo.

Well, needless to say the festival bosses are PISSED. And what do we do in this country if we’re angry? WE SUE!! That’s right, owners of the festival are suing SHARK claiming the animal rights group sent Matchbox 20 “false and misleading information” which caused the cancellation. Frontier Days organizers are estimating the resulting damage will be close to 100,000 dollars lost in ticket sales. They are also suing SHARK for persuading Carrie Underwood to pull out of the event in 2006.

Juicy stuff! Keep posted to Ecorazzi for all your SHARK/Frontier Days drama. Who will win? I vote SHARK.