Director Roland Emmerich’s new disaster movie 2012 is about to hit theaters — and as the Mother Nature Network recently found out, there was an effort to keep the $260 million dollar film as green as possible.

Emmerich, who drives a hybrid and powers his home with solar panels, said “After making The Day After Tomorrow, I said to myself, ‘From now on my movies should have a green footprint.’”

For the production of 2012, carbon offsets were purchased, biofuel was used for generators, sets were recycled and what couldn’t be recycled was donated to Habitat for Humanity. Said Emmerich’s producer partner Michael Wimer, who also drives an all-electric RAV4 “It was important to us. Changes are happening to the planet, and you either take responsibility or you don’t.”

So far, early reviews of the film are playing up its unintentional comedic attributes — saying, it’s so bad, it’s good. “Emmerich supposedly spent $260m to give you the biggest experience for your ticket dollar and in this regard, he has succeeded tremendously, while, intentionally or otherwise, also delivering one of 2009’s best comedies,” said one critic.

Aw, what the hell — we could use a good laugh; especially if Woody Harrelson’s conspiracy-nut character turns out to be as ass-crazy hilarious as he looks online.

2012 opens November 13th.

This Saturday, Woody Harrelson will become Dr. Harrelson as York University in Toronto bestows an honorary Doctorate on the actor for his work with environmental issues. “Mr. Harrelson’s understanding of why we each need to reduce our ecological footprint is authentic, and his efforts to inspire others to grasp and act on this concept provide an object lesson for those of us who teach,” said Prof. Dawn Bazely, director of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability at York.

In response to hearing the news that he had been selected for the honor, Harrelson at first thought they had the wrong guy. Upon double-checking, however, he told Toronto’s The Star that “it means more than any award or accolade I’ve received.”

To be sure, Harrelson’s environmental record is impressive, but he thinks the award is more about discipline than anything else. “I don’t consider myself much of a role model at all. The reason they’re giving me this doctorate has to do with my getting ahold of a principle that I believe in and sticking to it,” he said. “Otherwise, I can’t think of any other aspect that I would even want my own children, much less other people’s children, to follow.”

Reaction to the honor has ranged from disapproval to applause — with one fellow Phd-holder saying that the actor has earned it. “I have an PhD too – earned through blood, sweat, and tears (from an Ivy league university to boot, if that means anything to all you mudslingers) – and in no way do I feel like this diminishes the value of a “real” PhD. He just earned it in a different way. It’s not really fair to criticize his honorary degree just because he of his economic or celebrity status; from what I gather, he earned (vs. won or inherited) his fame and fortune too.”

Check out pics of Woody at the premiere of his latest flick Zombieland below.

via The Star and CBC News

From what I’m hearing, people are loving Zombieland — and Woody Harrelson’s character in the movie has a lot to do with the praise.

As we mentioned earlier, the hardcore vegan made sure that his special dietary needs were met on the set; including the Twinkies his character so desires in the film.

“My character is searching for the ultimate comfort food, which to him is not another human being but a Twinkie,” the 48-year-old actor told the NY Times. “I’m not a Twinkie lover. I don’t do sugar or dairy either. When we finally shot my Twinkie-eating scene in the movie, they had to give me a specially made mock Twinkie made of corn meal. It could spur a healthy Twinkie revolution.”

That actually doesn’t sound half-bad — though I wonder what they used for the filling? Asked about what food the actor might seek out should the world come to an end, he said, “I’d be searching for a mango. Or an avocado. It really is a tough call between the two.”

I’d go with avocado.

If you thought Woody Harrelson was rad before, you’re really gonna think he’s cool now!

Woody refused to work on the movie unless director Ruben Fleisher agreed to meet his super green standards –including reducing his waste and electricity during production. Woody even convinced Fleisher to go VEG. As many know, Harrelson rocks the planet-pleasing diet, as does his co-star Jesse Eisenberg.

Woody also requested that his special zombie-killing hat come from a company called Real Deal Brazil which makes all their products out of recycled truck tarp.  We likey!

What do you think about Woody’s eco demands? Should more actors make these kind of requests?  Chime in and share your thoughts!

Remember that vegetarian PETA ad Alicia Silverstone did in the nude? Turns out, it’s not such a unusual thing for her to strip down and enjoy nature in the buff.

The 32-year-old actress and animal-rights activist recently told a US magazine that she loves gardening naked — something Woody Harrelson inspired her to enjoy. “[It] probably started when I was doing my garden the first time,” she said. “I’d be out there, and it would be scorching hot, so I would take off all of my clothes and garden. And then I would jump in the pool and swim – and I always get in the pool naked.”

“I used to spend a lot of time with Woody Harrelson, and he’s not afraid to get naked,” she added.

Anyone else out there have some naked confessions to share?

Kitty Auschwitz (aka Texas Tech University) got some seriously bad publicity last year when PETA discovered that the school’s Health Sciences Center was buying homeless cats from local shelters and using them in medical training. According to PETA’s Action Center:

“The cats are forced to undergo painful intubation procedures in which hard plastic tubes are repeatedly forced down their wind pipes by course participants. This can result in bleeding, swelling, scarring of the animals’ throat tissue, collapsed lungs and even death.”

Recently, Texas-born actor Woody Harrelson got on board and wrote a letter expressing his thoughts to Texas Tech President John Baldwin. In the letter, Woody says:

“Harming and killing shelter animals for these exercises is unjustifiable, especially as realistic manikins that more accurately represent human anatomy and better prepare medical professionals to treat injured and sick children are readily available . . . I and countless others around the state are deeply discouraged to learn that Texas Tech is taking advantage of the tragic abundance of abandoned animals.”

We are too! Clean up your act, yo!

To read Woody’s entire letter, visit PETA.org!

[Update: Visit PETA's Action Center to tell Texas Tech that their kitty killing is a catastrophe!]

I’m a casual dude. In fact, in a perfect world I would wear jeans and a t-shirt everyday for the rest of my life.  Luckily for me Alanis Morissette  and Woody Harrelson are turning my blue jeans into green jeans.

The duo recently launched Reco Jeans — a line made with 50% recycled denim.  The process for making these pants are pretty intricate. Here’s how it works: 

First, they collect piles of excess fabric that would usually get dumped into the landfill. Then they take the fabric to a re-processing mill where it gets separated and broken down to be spun into yarn. Once separated properly, the fibers are ready to be spun into quality yarn and woven into strong fabric sheets. Finally, the dyeing is done with indigo to give the “blue jean” look. 

Each box set includes a pair of eco-friendly recycled denim reco® jeans, reco® iPod case, and certificate of authenticity. Oh yeah, and there are only 300 pairs available!!

So how much are these groovy threads? Well that’s up to you! Until July 18th, the vegan pair are holding a dutch auction that will allow YOU to decide the price.  Visit RecoJeans.com to bid on a pair and learn more about this fancy new product!

We’ve been keeping a close watch on the upcoming apocalypse film 2012 by director Roland Emmerich — mainly because it features the world cleansing itself of humanity and beating us to a pulp in the process. It stars actors like John Cusack (there had better be a scene with him standing in the rain) and Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, and Chin Han.

Director Roland Emmerich has plenty of experience with disaster movies — having been the guy behind such faves as The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. And while I thought the White House getting zapped by aliens in Independence was pretty awesome, nothing compares to the sheer gratuitous insanity of watching a tumbling aircraft carrier in a tsunami wipe it out instead. Check it out below:

Note: As the trailer is getting hammered at the moment, I would recommend letting it load a bit before watching. That, or hit up Yahoo for what appears to be a faster stream.

The controversy surrounding the popular Nobu’s sushi restaurant chain (co-owned by Robert DeNiro) continues to grow. Last September, Greenpeace threw the opening shot after it discovered endangered bluefin tuna on the menu. Weeks later, Nobu answered the charges — not by removing the tuna — but by adding a moronic warnings to their menus that the fish people were about to eat was endangered. Not quite the action Greenpeace was looking for.

Now, in conjunction with the new documentary The End of The Line, celebrities are signing a petition to raise the heat on Nobu’s management and hopefully get the bluefin removed permanently. Elle Macpherson, Sienna Miller, Alicia Silverstone, Charlize Theron, Sting and Trudie Styler, Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson and Stephen Fry are among the 31 famous folks who have signed a petition vowing not to patronize Nobu London until it stops serving the near-extinct  tuna. From their statement:

“As customers and fans of Nobu we strongly feel that bluefin tuna must be completely removed from your menu due to its perilous position as an extremely endangered animal. Nobu is a restaurant we all love, a world leader in sushi with a fantastic reputation and enormous influence. If Nobu took a definitive stand on this issue it could make a critical difference.”

Nobu is not one to take celebrity criticism of its establishment lightly. The restaurant is a haven for the rich and famous — so such involvement from Hollywood in the matter will certainly make a difference. The only question is: Will they choose protecting a species of fish over tastebuds? Japanese chefs consider bluefin to be the tastiest of all tuna — hence it’s popularity in sushi restaurants. Having Nobu take the lead on dropping bluefin could potentially lead to others following its lead.

We’re just waiting for DeNiro to stop wussing out and do the right thing. That’s right, we’re talking to you.

According to Heart of Green:

“The Peruvian government under President Alan Garcia is auctioning off the indigenous peoples’ lands to oil, mining and logging corporations without their consent. Peru has already opened 75% of its Amazon territory to oil exploration. In the last month, Garcia has signed contracts for 15 more oil concessions in the Amazon.”

Essentially, President Garcia is making it easier to transfer the land owned by the indigenous people to large international corporations, who, not surprisingly, are violently exploiting the environment and local communities. 

To learn more about this rapidly-growing issue, check out  Q’orianka Kilcher’s blog, sign AmazonWatch.org’s petition or simply check out the video below! Let’s end this junk!