Ecorazzi reported earlier this year that the Broadway production of Wicked was getting a super green makeover! Well now it looks like the rest of the Broadway scene is following the lead!

The Great White Way is changing shades as the theater community embraces “Broadway Goes Green,” a new environmental initiative which hopes to “to reduce Broadway’s carbon footprint, adopt environmentally sustainable practices and promote environmental awareness in the creation and presentation of Broadway shows.”

In partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the initiative will help the theater scene become a little more green with new practices like:  washing costumes in cold water, printing theatre related eco-tips in Playbill Magazine, energy efficient lighting in theater marquees, rechargable batteries in sound equipment, sets made from more environmentally preferable materials and offsetting the carbon emissions of national tours by investing in renewal energy.

“This initiative and this commitment brings together the entire Broadway community. We’ve established three committees and they have begun practice and the adoption of better practices as the first step of an ongoing process in making Broadway greener. More task forces will be developed as more people get involved,” said Broadway League executive director Charlotte St. Martin in a statement.

We’re totally jazzed to hear that Broadway will be hopping on the green bandwagon and look forward to seeing what the theater company has in store for us next! 

via: playbill.com

Matt Damon has joined up with Cindy McCain, Michelle Obama, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and many others to once more get behind the ONE campaign and help fight poverty and disease. Damon has traveled to Africa twice for the organization — which includes 100 of America’s most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations.

In the video, Matt looks directly at the camera while his voice changes to reflect the various other celebrities involved. “The ONE Campaign isn’t about taking sides, it’s about taking action,” Damon said. “America is saving millions of lives in the poorest parts of the world — I saw it myself in Zambia and Tanzania.”

The ads will air on television starting August 24th. Can you guess who’s speaking when? What do you think of the effect?

Before there was Al Gore’s $300 million WE environmental campaign, in the UK there was the TOGETHER anti-climate change campaign. Picking up on the theme here? Those with enochlophobia should definitely steer clear. 

Now the TOGETHER campaign is coming state-side and Arnold Schwarzenegger is joining New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to celebrate its launch. From the article,

Schwarzenegger said: “By making it easier and more affordable for Americans to fight climate change, we are taking a giant step towards a brighter and cleaner future. I extend my best wishes for every success in saying ‘hasta la vista’ to climate change.”

Only Arnold could get away (barely) with incorporating movie lines into a speech. And we love him for it. 

Helping to spread the word, eight major brands have joined Together, including JP Morgan Chase, the campaign’s founding corporate partner, Dell, Target, MySpace, Nestle Waters and Timberland. MTV, Time Warner, and Fox TV are heading up the media angle. 

Wanna get together? Hit the official website here. 

Earlier this month Tyra Banks also joined Mayor Bloomberg in planting a tree on Ninth Avenue. Back on April 12th, over 20,000 trees were planted throughout New York City — the largest ever planting accomplishment in one day. Click here to learn how you can either help out — or get a few trees in your neighborhood!

Photo credit: Sheknows

Well yesterday Tyra got serious as she and previous America’s Next Top Model contestants Claire Unabia, Saliesha Cooper and Jaslene Gonzalez joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to plant an Oak tree on Ninth Avenue as part of the Million Tree Month and as a commemoration of the 600th episode of the The Tyra Banks Show.

And a tree wasn’t the only thing Tyra planted. Before the day was over she had planted a nice wet kiss right on cheek of Michael Bloomberg. Oh Tyra!

The event will air on an episode of The Tyra Banks Show sometime after Earth Day.

thanks: justjared.com

The NRDC recognized PlanNYC, a project Bloomberg put into place to enhance New York’s urban environment and develop a model for efficiency and sustainable. It’s estimated that PlanNYC will contribute a 30% reduction in the city’s global warming emissions.

Kenneth D. Lewis from Bank Of America was honored for leading the bank on a $20 billion, ten-year initiative that encourages development of environmentally sustainable business practices through lending, investing, philanthropy and the creation of new products and services.

What do you think Ecorazzi readers? Are you happy with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s pick for environmental leaders? Chime in and tell us what you think.

Anchorwoman Katie Couric arrived fashionably late for the red carpet entrance but the host of the Global Green USA’s Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards had to first deliver the CBS Evening News to the American public.

The awards event was held at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park City and was packed with eco-friendly celebs, active environmentalists and green innovators. Speakers included actors Josh Lucas, Josie Maran, playwright Eve Ensler, and the beautiful and talented Glenn Close. Other notable celebs in attendance were comedian Chevy Chase, actress Kyra Sedgewick, CNN contributor Jeff Greenfield, and Matt Peterson, President & CEO, Global Green. Josie Maran, who recently launched a green beauty product line, proudly also announced that her baby wears G Diapers. She shared and interesting green fact that I was unaware of: flying on a red eye gives off more carbon gas than other flights so she tries to avoid doing so.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg excitedly shared the details and video of plans for the city’s first Green School in the Lower Manhattan. Sloan & Roger Barnett, owners or Shaklee Corp. and winners of the Organizational Design Award, explained how they got started. Their son was diagnosed with severe asthma. After extensive digging they discovered no family history of asthma and realized their son must have gotten asthma from the environment. They urged for every school to use natural cleaning products.

Pratt Industries earned the Industrial Design Award and was accepted by Anthony Pratt, CEO & Chairman. This year’s winner for the Green Building Design Award Media and Entertainment Design Award given to Discovery and accepted by David Zaslav, President & CEO. The Founder Award was given to Scott Seydel, President, EVCO.

The night included a silent Eco-Auction and contributors included BOSCH, Citizen Watch, Farm 2 Market, EDUN. My personal favorite was the ME & Ro bracelet. During the delicious, organic dinner I had a chance to talk to some attendees and a heard repeated sentiment about the great Brad Pitt. Most agreed he has been doing a stellar job getting people aware, but several people expressed mild disappointment that he did not even mention the name Global Green on the Today show interview yesterday in New Orleans.

Big ups to the Global Green USA on their special day for rocking el verde all across the continent, but guys honestly…The Designing A Sustainable And Secure World Awards? Are we serious here? This title doesn’t even leave room for a clever acronym. My advice: ditch the tongue twister and come up with something a little shorter and a lot sweeter. I mean just think of all the ink you’ll save on invitations alone.

This post was submitted by our new contributor, the excellent Michael DuDell of New York City. If you’re interested in writing for the only site that encourages you to dig through gossip for the greater good, let us know!

Called the “first ever ‘green’ Christmas tree”, this year’s tree at Rockefeller Center will be draped with 30,000 light-emitting diodes- a five-mile strand of starry lights that will not only illuminate New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg believes will “inspire private-sector creativity” and allow the tree’s 500,000 daily visitors to “dream of a ‘green’ Christmas”.

While the 2007 Rockefeller Tree Lighting Ceremony isn’t until Wednesday, November 28th at 7 p.m., some lucky passersby have already spotted Carrie Underwood and her backup (ice) dancers practicing (or pre-taping?) her holiday performance.

Kelli Shields is a community outreach organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity.