The concert will take place on September 9th at the Nokia Theater and feature such artists as Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams, and Natasha Bedingfield. The event will also include clips from the documentary, The Day After Peace, and video messages from celebrities like Jude Law and Lenny Kravitz.

Peace One Day was started by Jeremey Gilley in 1999 to help shed light on non-violent solutions to global problems.  Annie Lennox says, “We all have so much potential, but we don’t tend to realize it, so we take it for granted. The work of Peace One Day encourages and inspires people to think about we can all do, both at individual and ‘collective’ levels.”

Oh and check this out: as result of Peace One Day’s campaigning in 2007, 1.4 million Afghanistan children were vaccinated against polio, and 100 million people in 200 countries were engaged in Peace Day activities. WOW! Visit Ticketmaster.com to get your tickets!

thanks: looktothestars.org

Could Sting’s evil Captain Planet character be coming to life?

On the Eve of the Rainforest Foundation’s Annual Benefit (something for which the Empire State Building will be lit green for), new information regarding the “giving” side of Sting’s organization has us less than stoked.

According to the New York Post, the Rainforest Foundation has been rated one of the worst charities in New York City. The slap comes from Charity Navigator, a watchdog that rates 5,000 charities nationally based on management and fund-raising-to-giving ratios. Sting’s org has been given a “0″ the last four years because they’ve doled out less than half — 41% — of their donations to tree initiatives. From the article,

“The 2006 concert – which drew Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow and Will Ferrell to the landmark stage – raised $2,156,989, according to the latest available IRS tax filing. Yet only $887,374 of the money raised, 41 percent, was divided among the charity’s eight programs that support native-land claims and forest preservation in Latin America and Africa – a paltry percentage, according to agencies that monitor nonprofits.

A well-run charity, they said, typically spends 75 percent of revenues on programs. ‘This one would fall to the bottom of the bucket,’ said Sandra Miniutti, a spokeswoman for Charity Navigator.”

For reasons not explained, the charity is also hoarding their money — with $10 million in assets (including $5 million in cash) reported to the IRS.

As stated on the foundation’s website, over 93,000 acres of rainforest are lost each day. Money is desperately needed to secure vast tracts of undisturbed, ancient trees and habitat. So, we just have one, small question for the organization:

“WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”

via Newsbusters

[UPDATE] Trudi Styler has responded to the criticism saying, “The Rainforest Foundation is celebrating its 20th year. We wouldn’t still be in business or have given out millions of dollars over the years if we’d spent everything we made immediately after it came in.” However, Bennett Weiner, the director of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, still thinks the hoarding is excessive. “What are they doing with the money?,” he said. “They have more than five times what they would normally spend in a year in reserves.”

A few months ago, we mentioned that actress Soleil Moon Frye (otherwise known as the original Punky Brewster) was opening an eco-friendly baby store in LA called The Little Seed. Access Hollywood recently caught with Soleil and received a tour of her shop. Check it out here. [Thanks, Linton!]

After performing at the Rio De Janeiro leg of Live Earth, rocker Lenny Kravitz almost decided not to come home. The musician planned on staying for a week, but ended up living for four months on a remote farm. Said Kravitz, “There was no stress, less time spent on decisions. And I reconnected with knowing that God gives you everything you need. But I came out of the jungle and I came back with a fresh outlook”. [via femalefirst]

Pink may have led the media blitz, but musician Chrissie Hynde led the rally for a PETA protest in Central Park to encourage tourists not to support the carriage-horse industry. “I got hitched to Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) in a horse drawn carriage in New York. The marriage didn’t last and I hope the carriages meet the same fate.” [via PETA]

Finally, this is not green — but I found it hilarious. Comedian Sarah Silverman gave significant other Jimmy Kimmel a video-gift for the 5-year anniversary of his Jimmy Kimmel Live show. For those that don’t know, there’s a running joke on the show where Matt Damon is continuously insulted in various, creative ways. Let’s just say, Matt has had the last laugh. Check it out here.

The 1,415-pound ball will be covered in more than 9,500 energy-efficient light-emitting diodes that will illuminate the ball’s over 600 crystals and set the sky a blazin’.  Officials (whatever that means) say that the LEDs are estimated to use the same amount of electricity as about 10 toasters, which is like the craziest, most super cool thing I’ve ever heard.

As always, my precious little city will rock New Years eve celebrity style with musical performances by Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Lifehouse, The Bravery, and alums from Fox TV’s American Idol, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. 

So take that N train downtown and come celebrate the end of 2007 with the lot of us. Did I mention Hannah Montana will be there?