Walking With The Dolphins: My Motive to Think Green

Guess what? Hollywood hipsters say "Green" is "Cool!"

Ever since former political pariah Al Gore won his Oscar for his environmental doc, the rest of Hollywood appears to have clambered aboard the train headed to coolsville. Or should I say clambered aboard the proverbial bicycle...Well, maybe not bicycle, this is LA after all, but at least crowded into the Prius and now the almost-here Honda FCX.

Hollywood loves a winner and this glorified high school campus of hipsters has decided that our planet's environment is not just attention-worthy but that Green is Cool, and, even better, Green is Green.

At the Hollywood Goes Green Conference held last week at the historic Roosevelt Hotel and sponsored by the iHollywood Forum, Lauren Selman, founder of Reel Green Media, a consulting firm, reminded us all that "ecos" means "home" in its original Greek and that the real impetus behind the environmental movement and its "green initiatives" is simply that we gladly take care of what we love, don't we? And don't we love our home, Planet Earth? Well, don't we?!?

Inarguably, today's Hollywood hipsters' reigning King and Queen of Green, Pitt and Jolie, are, thankfully, two people who lead with their heads and their hearts and don't really pay much attention to the flava of the day. These two are trendsetters in many areas and, praise Heaven, they've chosen to put their celebrity-muscle behind taking care of planet Earth.

Here in Los Angeles in the final days of 2007, I count myself among the blessed for the simple fact that I live within walking distance of the ocean. Whenever I feel the needful urge to commune with nature, I have simply to step outside where I can smell the salt air, hear the ocean surf and, on frequent occasions such as this morning, watch the cove's resident pod of dolphins feast on their meal of fish and frolic right on the surfline. They come so close to shore! Their dorsal fins skim the ocean's surface. I don't have a dog to walk, but I do get to walk with the dolphins. Those are magical moments, gifted by nature.

Mountains, deserts, oceans - whatever revs your engines or flies your kite, wherever you live, just getting out there in IT is reminder enough of how good IT is. Reminding ourselves how good it is makes these greening tasks effortless: use only 100% post consumer recycled paper, replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), buy organic food, recycle, buy only recycled products, use biodegradable products, re-use water bottles, re-use plastic bags, use transportation fueled by bio-diesel or hybrid energy sources, invest in carbon offsets (Bonneville or CarbonFund.org), plant trees (Tree People), take a peek at FixThePlanet.com for more good ideas.

Cradle 2 Cradle is a book the Jolie-Pitt camp recommends. It's all about sustainable living. The book's pages are printed on a 100% recyclable plastics derivative product that is completely re-processable.

This 100% sustainable paper product is manufactured by ReProduct. The way it works is ingeniously simple. For example, the Jolie-Pitts established the Make It Right Foundation aimed at helping to sustainably rebuild New Orleans' 9th Ward, a neighborhood hardest hit by Katrina and its aftermath. All contributions to Make It Right will be rewarded with a thank you card from the ReProduct line of greeting cards, hence 100% recyclable. The Jolie-Pitts have ordered 15,000 greeting cards from ReProduct for this purpose. Each card comes with its own return envelope. When the recipient is finished with their thank you card, they return it in the provided, pre-postage paid envelope. That card now gets re-processed into Shaw carpet tile backing. These cards cost no more than regular greeting cards. Et Voila', no wastage. 100% recyclable. 100% sustainable. Yep. Green is hip. Green is cool. Green is green.

Comments

[lamarguerite]

Thanks Paige. I am very glad the Hollywood set is making green the new hip trend. Let's just hope it lasts, and trickles down to the masses.

Let us also remember that the top direct contributors to emissions are 1)cars, 2) space heating, and 3) lights and appliances. Not quite as sexy as the things mentioned above, but a lot more important is the need to inspire people to: 1) walk, bike or use public transportation instead of driving, 2) insulate their homes with caulk, and install thermostats to make sure home temperature is at recommended minimum, 3) only use Energy Star Appliances, and unplug when not in use, 4) and yes, get rid of all your old light bulbs.

marguerite
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com
'It's All About Green Psychology'

[Cranbot]

Like walking with them? Try swimming with them. I did, at a research center in Florida, and it was by far the most spiritual experience of my life. The peace and communion was overwhelming.