ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

May 12th 2008

Indiana Jones’ Crystal Skull May Curb Deforestation, Help With World Peace

Filed under: film-tv, movies — michael @ 3:37 pm

We all know how passionate Harrison Ford is about stopping deforestation in the Amazon, but might he also have found a way to incorporate those values into the latest Indiana Jones movie? If you’re interested in doubling up on that spoonful of conjecture, please, continue reading. 

You see, there’s a very interesting article up on MSNBC highlighting the real history of the sacred crystal skulls — basically the major plot point everything revolves around in Indy IV. In the jungles of Southern Mexico, there exists today the last unassimilated Mayas that still worship the skulls. According to priests, the idols have special powers, including “the ability to stave off sickness and deforestation in the rain forest” where the last Mayans still live.

While the movie may only focus on one of these skulls, supposedly there are 13 scattered about that were once used by the Ancient Mayans. According to legend, when the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its 5,126-year cycle on Dec. 21, 2012, all 13 skulls must be reunited and lined up together to prevent the world from falling off its axis. From the article,

“I personally feel that (the skulls) are coming out now because humanity needs the information, their energy and they have probably their own purpose why they’re coming out: to help us to create world peace,” said Joshua “Illinois” Shapiro, 53, a self-described Crystal Skull Explorer who makes a living touring and giving lectures.

So, with so much at stake, it makes sense that our favorite archaeological adventurer is getting involved to help save the day. Oh, and if anyone has one of these skulls up in their attic, please make sure it gets to the Mayans by 2012. With world peace such a pipe dream at the moment — and the rainforest getting chopped — we’ll believe anything that might make a difference! 

May 12th 2008

Video: Harrison Ford Waxes An Acre Of His Chest Hair

Filed under: campaigns — michael @ 9:37 am

As we mention previously, Harrison Ford, who is also Vice-Chairman of Conservation International, underwent a chest-waxing treatment to highlight the devastative impact of deforestation. Check out the video below:

via Treehugger

April 24th 2008

Harrison Ford Has Chest Waxed To Hightlight Deforestation

Steve Carell sends his sympathies...

Filed under: campaigns — michael @ 10:56 am

Harrison Ford has sacrificed his chest hair to help “shock” people into going green. The 65-year-old star, who is also Vice-Chairman of Conservation International, underwent the treatment to highlight the devastative impact of deforestation. I guess that’s one way to get the message across! Afterwards, Ford said that he felt rather “naked”.

Harrison has worked with Conservation International for over 15 years. In 2002, he was handed the Global Environmental Citizen Award by Harvard University in recognition of his conservation campaigning. Speaking at the time, he said “Our exploitation of the Earth has reached alarming proportions in the short time we’ve come to dominate the environment.”

You can check out a recent interview with National Geographic Adventure on Ford’s environmental passions here.

via Access Hollywood

April 21st 2008

Harrison Ford Voices New PSA For Earth Share

Filed under: green and famous — michael @ 12:57 pm

Harrison Ford is voicing a new television PSA for the organization Earth Share in celebration of this week’s Earth Day. The 65-year-old actor is urging people to get behind Earth Share’s network of environmental and conservation organizations. From the website,

“Earth Share supports a nationwide network of America’s leading non-profit environmental and conservation organizations, and works to promote environmental awareness and charitable giving through workplace giving campaigns. Founded by its member charities in 1988, Earth Share is an opportunity for environmentally-conscious employees and workplaces to support hundreds of environmental groups through a charitable giving drive.”

In the video (which you can view here), a little girl is inundated with images of pollution and environmental degradation. At the end, she says, “You promised me the world. Is this what you had in mind?”

With marketing for the next Indiana Jones film ramping up for its release next month, Ford is using the spotlight to focus attention on various environmental initiatives he believes in. National Geographic Adventure recently featured an interview with the actor where he talked about lost worlds, eco-tourism, and how a friendship with a fox turned him onto environmentalism.

To find out more about Earth Share — and what you can do to help, check out their official website here.

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 11th 2008

Johnny Depp and Snoop Dogg Team Up To Free Lolita

Together at last.

Filed under: animals — michael @ 10:28 am

Johnny Depp and Snoop Dogg are joining forces with Harrison Ford, Fifty Cent, R&B singer Truth Hurts, and several politicians to appeal for the release of Lolita the killer whale. Currently, Lolita is being held in the Miami Seaquarium where she has been performing for about 37 years. She is now is 20 feet long, weighs 7,000 pounds, and lives in a tank that measures 80 feet across at its widest and 20 feet deep. Howard Garrett, who with Susan Berta founded the Orca Network are the organized force behind the freedom rally. From the article,

“Newsweek says Levy is working on a benefit concert that would support the Lolita movement. ‘This beautiful animal does not deserve to die in a stinky little tank, and we are not going to take less than a full victory,’ Levy told Newsweek. Garrett said it’s too early to announce any particular concert plans but admitted that ‘we’re working on it. Momentum is building,’ he said. ‘A publicity campaign is in the works being directed by people in Hollywood.’”

Organizers say that Lolita’s best chance at survival would be in the waters of San Juan Island’s Kanaka Bay, which was used to hold killer whales during the roundup days of the 1970s. She could stay with her trainers and staff from Seaquarium before acclimating and venturing off on her own. Garrett discredits those who believe she’s too tame to return to the wild saying, “The idea that she’s habituated, that she’d be totally out of her element if she were brought back, ignores the intelligence of the species and their family bonding for life.”

January 14th 2008

The Art Of Elysium Celebrates 10 Years With Some Big Celebrity Supporters

Filed under: events, events: la — parrish @ 12:22 pm

This weekend, The Art Of Elysium, a charity that teams up artists with critically ill children, held, Heaven: Celebrating 10 Years, a star-studded gala that celebrated their 10 years of service.

In the past, The Art Of Elysium has gained the support of some huge Hollywood A-Listers, and this event was no different, with attendance by celebrities like Harrison Ford, Ellen DeGeneres, Courtney Cox Arquette, Ryan Seacrest and Rachel Bilson.

In 2007, the The Art Of Elysium set a goal to reach 20,000 children by the end of the year. To help achieve that, they participated in the Teen Impact Retreat in El Capitan Canyon, which gives teens with cancer a chance to make new friends, participate in exciting activities and share their stories. The Art Of Elysium uses drama, music, yoga and an array of other art forms to help children all across the country.

So why not be a pal and visit their website to learn how you can donate your time, money or artistry to help some pretty awesome kids through a tough time.

via: justjared 

November 30th 2007

Celebrities Hit The Green Carpet With Movies Rock

Filed under: events, events: la, film-tv, green and famous, music, transport — parrish @ 11:41 am

Is Chevrolet making Hollywood’s elite a little gassy? Looks like it! On December 2nd, the Kodak Theater in L.A will be receiving a eco-facelift as they host the Movies Rock event- a two hour star-studded bonanza celebrating the historic ties between music and film. Why in the world should you care? BECAUSE THEY’RE DOING IT GREEN STYLE BABY!!! Sorry, I get excited! This year, celebrities such as Beyonce, Kate Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Harrison Ford and Charlize Theron will be pulling up in a new line of automobiles that promote Chevy’s recent commitment to a “Gas-Friendly to Gas-Free” initiative.

Oh, but it gets better…much, much better. Instead of the same old red carpet (boring) entrance with Joan and Melissa Rivers screaming their face off (literally, Joan River’s face is falling off), Movies Rock is taking it to the next level-the green level. Conde Nast Media Group- a powerhouse in publishing and a Movies Rock sponsor- will be making a $25,000 donation to various environmental causes and will provide a 100 percent recycled green carpet (literally, the color green) for all of those fine famous feet to trample upon.

So in the spirit of Movies Rock I’ll close with that famous line: “I drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee ran dry.” Well if Chevy keeps this up and helps to reduce on global warming, maybe next time that levee won’t be so damn dry. Keep it mean. Keep it clean. Keep it green! The television special will air later next week on CBS.