green (21 posts)

AP Photo/Stephen Chernin

Brad Pitt's beard isn't the only thing that's growing right before our eyes.

So is New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, thanks to the bang-up job the actor's ecofriendly foundation is doing down south.

"I don't know how we build any other way anywhere else," Pitt said, addressing an audience today at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York. "We can no longer tell ourselves that implementing this technology is too complex a problem because it's just been proven on this little spot on the map."

Pitt, who started his Make It Right Foundation in 2007, said that the average family pays $35 per month for electricity in one of the green-minded homes built by his organization, while construction costs have decreased overall.

Hurricane Katrina battered the Big Easy in 2005 and Pitt has pledged to help construct 150 houses. He and Angelina Jolie also live in New Orleans part-time. 

Other Hollywood-accented do-gooders on the roster of featured attendees at Clinton's annual summit, which started Tuesday and ends tomorrow, included Matt Damon, Quincy Jones, Martin Scorsese, Alicia Keys, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Mira Sorvino and longtime Clinton pal Barbra Streisand.

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If Brad's situation is getting a little hairy for you, check out some of the other benevolent babes in our Do-Gooder Gallery.

STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

Diaper duty isn't all Gisele Bündchen has on her plate.

The supermodel, who's expecting her first child with hubby Tom Brady in December, was named the new Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program on Sunday at an event in New York's Washington Square Park.

Not unlike ex-boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio, the Brazilian babe has been a longtime environmental activist. Her new role will help the program "raise awareness and inspire action to protect the environment," according to the organization.

"The environment has always been my passion," the leggy lady said at the announcement event. "I grew up in a small town and I had the opportunity to live surrounded by nature...We must act now so future generations have the same opportunity. Mother Earth is our fundamental life-support system and, by becoming aware and responsible now, we can assist in preserving the planet."

In addition to adding "mom" and "Goodwill Ambassador" to her growing list of gigs, the multitasking beauty is reportedly working on earning her pilot's license.

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Let's all tip our hats to the celebrity Do-Gooders!

Todd Williamson/ Getty Images; Stephen Shugerman/ Getty Images; Denise Truscello/ Getty Images

How do you like your superheroes?

We here at E! like 'em hot, for one thing. Christian Bale as Batman: Check! Hugh Jackman as Wolverine: Yum! Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man: Yes, please! Chris Pine as Capt. Kirk (yeah, he's super enough to count): Double check!

So who should play the Green Lantern (not to be confused with the already-cast Green Hornet: no check) in the upcoming flick?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has chosen not to go with the fabulous fans' suggestion of Nathan Fillion. Instead, the studio has narrowed the playing field to Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper.

The movie is set to open in December 2010, so Warners had better decide fast. Maybe you can help them. You could even suggest potential love matches in the comments!

AP Photo/Jeff Gentner

Daryl Hannah made quite the splash in West Virginia today.

The actress and longtime environmental activist was arrested along with 30 others Tuesday for blocking traffic on a major highway during a sit-in to protest mountaintop coalmining, which involves blasting the peaks off the mountains to get at the deposits inside.

Police cruisers hauled off the protesters, who ultimately surrendered peacefully after plopping down on a patch of road outside a coal processing plant operated by Massey Energy Co. All, including Hannah, were released after being cited for impeding traffic and obstructing an officer.

"It's not necessary," Hannah said before she was arrested. "If you do it wisely, there are ways to use renewables. It's realistic for everybody."

The group, which also included a former U.S. senator and a NASA climatologist, had originally planned on taking their beef inside the Massey gates, but several hundred coalminers and their supporters blocked the entrance, according to the Charleston Gazette.

"Tensions were pretty high," State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous told the paper. "But nobody got hurt and we're pleased with that."

This wasn't Hannah's first ride in a cop car, either. The Kill Bill villain, who drives a truck that she fuels with recycled grease, was part of a group that arrested in 2006 protesting the bulldozing of an urban farm in Los Angeles.

Dominique Charriau/Getty Images

There's something fishy going on at one of London's most swanky celeb restaurants: the stars are aligning to boycott until an endangered fish is removed from its sushi menu.

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 bluefin tuna.

According to the petition, the stars say they can no longer "dine with a clear conscience" at the establishment.

"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," the statement reads.

"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."

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Kelsey McNeal/FOX

Who is the greenest of them all? How about 24?

Following through on a promise made two years ago, the Emmy-winning Fox series has become the first carbon-neutral production in TV history.

The network plans to launch a public-service campaign during tonight's two-hour special featuring series star Kiefer Sutherland singing the praises of 24's greener pastures and asking viewers to follow the show's lead to help combat global warming.

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Denise Truscello/WireImage.com

These guys are lucky that Bruce Willis is so darn ecofriendly.

An attorney for the actor said Wednesday that Willis has amicably resolved a lawsuit against the principals of an environmental technology company, in which he claimed that he was still waiting on nearly half of the $2 million investment he made into the not quite realized concept of "green rubber."

"Having resolved the matter, I will continue to maintain a shareholding position in the company and I wish the company, the directors and my fellow shareholders the very best for the future," Willis said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

"I continue to believe in the green rubber technology and the vast potential it holds for the environment."

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Bobby Rachpoot; PacificCoastNews

Turns out the Olsen twins got off easy the other day.

Catching Lindsay Lohan on her way into a VIP room at a Paris club late Friday night, an apparent animal lover dumped a bag of flour over her head, shouting, "Lindsay Lohan, fur hag!" as it happened.

While it's unclear whether the 22-year-old actress was clad in or carrying fur at the time, a rep for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—which named Lohan to its annual Worst-Dressed List earlier this year—cited recent photos of the Mean Girls star wearing the offensive material as a possible reason for the powdery provocation.

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Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse/ZUMAPress.com

Daryl Hannah has finally met an environmentally friendly company she doesn't like.

The ecoconscious actress has sued the makers of a hybrid electric bicycle for putting her picture on their promotional website and on the cover of a company catalog without her permission.

Per court documents filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Hannah's legal camp wrote to Currie Technologies Inc. in May, asking that a picture of her riding one of the company's bicycles, which implied that she endorsed the product, be removed from the company's site. (View the lawsuit.)

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