ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

June 23rd 2008

Paul McCartney Asks You To Participate In Meat-Free Mondays

Filed under: animals, campaigns, food & drink, green and famous — parrish @ 2:06 pm

Once an activist, always an activist! Paul McCartney is challenging Britons to participate in “meat-free Mondays” to help cut carbon emissions throughout the world. Paul claims to have gotten the idea from Australians who appear to be perhaps a little more aware (or willing to admit) the impact of cattle rearing and meat production on the environment.

Paul recently told trade magazine, The Grocer, “A lot of people go to the gym on a Monday. With meat-free Mondays, it’s a bit like going to the gym but with the added advantage of protecting the planet.” Paul also credits a report released by the UN for helping inspire the challenge. He said, “One of the most significant conclusions of the recent report on climate change was that we should eat less meat. This is not the Vegetarian Society that said that. It’s the UN.”

McCartney has been a long-time vegetarian and worked with PETA and various other animal-rights organizations to help promote the lifestyle, so this challenge comes as no surprise to all of us here at Ecorazzi. Will you be participating in meat-free Mondays? Comment back and tell us what you think.

thanks: peterleemail.com.uk

June 17th 2008

Charity Beat: Toby Keith’s Golf Tourney Raises Record Amount

Filed under: campaigns, donations — michael @ 12:13 pm

Country singer Toby Keith’s celebrity golf classic raised a record $709,000 for Ally’s House, a nonprofit organization that helps families dealing with childhood cancer. Since establishing the tournament five years ago, Keith’s event has helped raised more than $2.3 million for charity. [Read more...]

Kate Hudson traveled with rumored boyfriend Lance Armstrong to a charity bike ride event called “Ride With Lance” over the weekend in Waterloo, Ontario. The event, which covered 117 kilometers, raised over $1 million dollars for cancer research. 

Amidst thunderstorms, Paul McCartney performed a charity concert saturday on Kiev’s Independence Square. The outdoor show was billed as the largest concert ever in the former Soviet republic. Through donations (admission was free), over $600,000 and counting has been raised so far for the Ukraine’s National Cancer Institute’s children’s department. [Read more...]

June 5th 2008

Paul McCartney Holds “Virtual” Dinner Party And Wants YOU There

Filed under: campaigns, events, food & drink, web — parrish @ 11:03 am

Are you a huge Paul McCartney fan? Have you ever just wanted to sit down and have dinner with the guy? Well goods news — now you can. 

Paul McCartney is throwing an online dinner party and wants you there!  The event is entitled Night of a Thousand Dinners and is being held to celebrate World Environment Day and raise funds for the Adopt-a-Minefield campaign — a program that McCartney is an ambassador of. 

Paul is not only holding the party, but offering an exclusive song to anyone who donates money to charity.  McCartney says, “The Night of a Thousand Dinners is not only a great way to raise money for a just cause, it’s also a good way for friends and family to have fun together. With the growing concerns about world hunger, it should be a priority to clear arable land of landmines so that communities can once again grow their own food.”

The virtual dinner party takes place tonight on his official website,  www.paulmccartney.com. Don’t forget, Paul is a passionate veggie so make sure you bring some of that virtual tofu! 

May 13th 2008

Paul McCartney Is Pissed Over Carbon Enhanced Gift!!

Filed under: not green, products — parrish @ 11:27 am

When it comes to green celebrities there really are only 2 types. The first type is what I call the “real deals”. These are the stars like Ed Begley Jr., Brad Pitt, Rachel McAdams and so many more who really care about the planet and are driven, not by their desire to land on the front page, but by a global awareness that has nothing to do with their choice of career. The second type seem to be those environmental one-hit wonders who engage in green activities simply because it’s trendy or lucrative and usually last about - oh five seconds - before moving on to the next “cool” thing.

Paul McCartney is definitely the real deal! So you can imagine why he was so pissed when learning that his new eco-car was delivered by jet. The car in question is a brand new Lexus Hybrid Limousine and was given to Paul by the manufacturer to thank him for promoting green automobiles. The gesture was nice, but Lexus chose to fly the car from Japan to Britain, creating a carbon footprint almost 100 times bigger than the standard method of shipping.

A source told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: “…he was horrified after learning it was delivered by plane. Paul has always campaigned for green issues and he can’t understand why anyone would send an enormous car from Japan to Britain on a plane. “

Now Ecorazzi has been quite friendly with Lexus and especially supportive of their generous sponsorship of green events. I,myself, have spent some time with their Marketing Director of National Advertising and fully believe that she and the company really do have the very best intentions. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this lapse of green judgement didn’t shake my confidence a little. Was this simply a foolish, isolated incident or is Lexus getting laxidasical with their green agenda? I guess only time will tell!

thanks: femalefirst.co.uk

April 21st 2008

McCartney Says Going Vegetarian Has Greatest Impact For The Planet

Filed under: green and famous — michael @ 1:33 pm

Jack over on the PETA blog scored an exclusive interview with music legend Paul McCartney. The focus, as expected, in on the vegetarian lifestyle — and Paul answers some additional questions on global warming and over-fishing. Here’s a brief highlight:

What do you think about the fact that most major environmental organizations and the most prominent environmental advocates are omitting vegetarianism from their list of the top ways to help curtail global warming?

I think it’s very surprising that most major environmental organisations are leaving the option of going vegetarian off their lists of top ways to curtail global warming. Of course there are many powerful businesses which would wish to resist this idea but it is becoming clearer that a simple change in peoples’ lifestyles could make a major difference to our environment. What is interesting is that nowadays it is so easy to become vegetarian and so many people are reducing meat in their diet. That is a simple but extremely effective step that many people could take to help the environment and improve their own health at the same time.

Check out the full interview here.

March 12th 2008

Paul McCartney Reveals That Fishing Turned Him Vegetarian

Filed under: animals — michael @ 10:10 am

In a new print ad for PETA, Paul McCartney opens up about the first time he realized it was time to pursue a vegetarian lifestyle. From the ad,

“Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realised, ‘I am killing him - all for the passing pleasure it brings me.’ “Something inside me clicked. I realised as I watched him fight for breath, that his life was as important to him and mine is to me”.

Check out the ad below. If you’d like to pick up the shirt that Paul has on, jump here. 

February 14th 2008

The Vegan Environmental Awards Spark Controversy

Filed under: animals, events, events: uk, green and famous, honors, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 3:21 pm

OH MY GOD!!! HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THESE AWARDS UNTIL 10 MINUTES AGO?

Apparently, each year in the magical land of Bristol, England there’s an event called the Vegan Environmental Awards, which highlights all the great VEG stuff from the past year.

The latest drama surrounding the event is that Sir. Paul McCartney narrowly missed a nomination for the 2008 ethical Oscar while his estranged wife, Heather Mills McCartney, made it through.

The list of 64 other nominations includes groups like: Whole Foods, vegan campaigners such as Ingrid Newark from PETA, and the directors of Vegfam. Also, there’s a category for the best vegan shows like: Animal Aid’s Christmas Without Cruelty and The London Vegan Festival.

So head over to the Vegan Enviromental Awards website and vote on your favorite vegan products for a chance to win some cool prizes. Dear England, I’m super jealous that you’re more Veg-Friendly than we are.  Love, Parrish.

December 19th 2007

Paul McCartney Urges World To Go Veggie For The Environment

Filed under: animals, food & drink — michael @ 11:34 am

While he stopped short of recommending rat’s milk as an alternative, musician Paul McCartney did follow in the footsteps of his former wife Heather Mills by advocating for increased diets of vegetables and less meat.

The former Beatle drew attention to a United Nations report which found that the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent - 18% - than transport. In a letter to the UK Press Association, he outlined the dramatic effects eating meat has on the planet — including the facts that 70% of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing and that livestock now use 30% of the entire world’s land surface. From his letter,

“That this message comes directly from an authoritative body such as the UN (whose member states, it should be remembered, are not generally considered vegetarian) rather than an organisation committed to vegetarianism is significant.

What I think is especially compelling is that this report should now encourage everybody to ‘do their bit’ for the planet… the evidence that the report gives is, frankly, stunning. It points directly to the striking detrimental effects of excessive livestock farming on the environment. It generates 65% of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2. Most of this comes from manure.

By simply considering altering eating habits people can strike a blow for the environment, our children and the future. Such facts and data as those listed above can’t be ignored.”

Good words from Sir Paul McCartney and excellent food for thought this Holiday season as the massive festive dinners continue on through New Years. For those of us not vegetarian, consider reducing your intake this year and making an effort to invite more green into your diets. Every little bit helps. We can all be conscious of the impact our food has on the world.

via the press association