U.S. Vice-President turned eco-activist Al Gore has been a major player in the fight against global warming in the past few years, and according to him the tides are about to turn in our favor. At a speech last Monday at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Gore indicated that this year will be monumental for environmentalists asserting the importance of their cause, and compared the year’s importance to the battle of Gettysburg in terms of turning the tides of battle.

“We are radically changing the relationship between the human species and the rest of the Earth,” he said. “This year, 2009, is the Gettysburg for the environment. It is the time we have the opportunity to change.”

“The one thing that is going to allow us to win this is that thing that is inside these award winners,” Gore said. “Remember what we have to do, this year.”

Gore is no newcomer to environmentalism — it is an issue he has explored many times on the lecture circuit and in his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and his efforts with the matter helped earn him the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. This time, Gore addressed this issue as part of his keynote presentation of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize.

Photo via Flickr!

• Reusable bags: more popular than ever! [Albany Times-Union]
• Eva Longoria-Parker and H-E-B promote reusable bags for Earth Day! [Houston Chronicle]
• Reusable bag sales raise money and awareness for students in Lakeside, MN. [Chisago County Press]
• Plastic bag pollution in Tanzania referred to as “alarming.” [IPP Media]
• Reusable bags an appealing choice in the Silicon Valley. [KLIV]
• Meanwhile, legislative hearings for a California bag tax are going well. [WBIR]
• Earth Day is already underway ahead of schedule in Rhode Island! [Providence Journal]
• New York state law aims to make recycling plastic bags easier. [9-WSYR]
• Find more ways to get active for Earth Day! [My Ozarks Outdoors]

Photo via Flickr!

A beloved icon once said, “It’s not easy being green.” Perhaps this is the case, but actor Paul Rudd sure is giving it the old college try, donning a giant globe costume and piling on the charm as Mr. Earth himself on the Sesame Street special Going Green. Rudd is notorious for his unabashedly awkward impromptu dancing, and he certainly doesn’t hold back here, busting out moves that would make Carlton Banks green with envy. Best of all, it’s for a good cause: Sesame Street’s Going Green DVD (printed and packaged with 100% sustainable materials, natch!) is all about Elmo and his furry friends holding an Earth-a-Thon to teach kids about the importance of keeping our planet healthy and how to help, from conserving energy to remembering the all-important Three R’s. Elmo gets so passionate about the cause, he turns green in the process — and when it comes to the environment, green ain’t such a bad color to be.

Want to see a clip? You know you do.

The DVD is out now, so check it out! It might just be the perfect Earth Day gift for the little one — or Paul Rudd fan — on your list.

Via Ecorazzi!

As I’ve said before, nothing helps a cause like a little boost from a celebrity, and now it seems that actress/socialite Mischa Barton has stepped up to the plate. According to Ecorazzi, Ms. Barton filled up her website with some everyday green tips on how to live better in the coming year, and one of those tips was of very special interest:

Second one is when you go to the store these days, most stores have bags you can get that are reusable and bring them back as long as you remember them – which seems to be my only issue. I think that’s an amazing thing to do. It saves us paper and plastic and it’s much, much, much better for the environment.

Unfortunately it sounds like she has some trouble remembering to bring those reusable bags back in with her, but it’s a pretty common beginner’s mistake. The fact that the intent is there is already a major step in the right direction! Let’s hope she gets that system down, and what’s more — let’s hope she inspires someone new to make a positive change with reusable bags.

Photo via Flickr!

Originally today I was going to write about the state of reusable bags in New Jersey, but considering it’s been a while (what with the holiday and all) I thought you might want to hear something a little bit cheerier while still on the environmental front. Then I read over at Ecorazzi that Architectural Digest is giving Brad Pitt some major recognition for his efforts toward sustainability in New Orleans, and I thought: perfect.

The magazine is spotlighting Pitt for his work in New Orleans through his Make It Right Foundation. “I couldn’t believe nothing was going on,” he said of his first visit to the devastated Lower 9th Ward. “I recalled the pictures of people on roofs, begging for help and I couldn’t believe that this was our America.”

As we now know, Pitt resolved to make a difference and brought together architects, residents and community leaders to draw up guidelines for rebuilding. Not only would the new homes be affordable, but they would also embody green technology, sustainable design — and most importantly — be adapted to survive the tumultuous weather of New Orleans.

The Pitt crew have 150 Pink Project homes slated for completion to date, which is a pretty big deal. Check out the official Make It Right Foundation website and see exactly what they’re all about — there’s a mission statement, fully laid-out plans, and information on how you too can help and even sponsor a home. It’s a great project, laying down foundations for some majorly awesome change.

Photo via Flickr!

Nothing brings credence to a cause quite like having A-list celebrities behind it, and Diane Lane is apparently joining in and taking up the reusable bag mantle. At an Oceana fundraiser in Laguna Beach this past weekend, Lane spoke up about the simple step she’s taking to make the oceans a better place.

At an environmental fundraiser in California for Oceana, an organisation dedicated to protecting and restoring the world’s oceans, The Perfect Storm actress explained her commitment to going green has started with reusable shopping bags.

“I’m getting there, I have made the transition and it’s good,” she said. “I keep my reusable bags everywhere. I’m known as the bag lady and I don’t care.”

Oh, you go girlfriend. She then went on to explain what’s in it for us to take a stand on the environment and the future of our oceans.

If we all make a very slight adjustment then we can all still have some whales, some walruses, and be able to swim in the ocean [and] not die from eating the food we’re fishing out of the ocean. People are becoming sick and don’t know it. The governments aren’t going to tell you anything about it, what’s in it for them?

All valid points, Ms. Lane. Well said. Not to mention: glad to have you on board.

What happens when you suddenly find your status as Premiere Environmental Activist Semi-Famous Guy on the Block challenged when the new guy moves in next door? If it were a movie, they might try to top each other with increasingly grotesque displays until someone gets hurt and everyone involved learns a valuable life lesson, but for Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye (yes, the science guy) it’s a good-natured competition where everybody learns and everybody wins.

The good-natured competition between actor Ed Begley Jr. and Bill Nye, the host of the educational series “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” began when Nye moved into the neighborhood two years ago. Since then the two moderately famous and slightly geeky environmentalists have matched wits over whose home can leave a smaller carbon footprint.

Neighbor Frema Rood, 83, who lives between the two houses, said the competition started the day after Bill moved into the neighborhood.

“Bill announced it: ‘I’m going to best Ed Begley at his own game. I’m going to get him,’” she recalled. “He ordered panels for the garage, then rain barrels, then he had his windows done and he put in a vegetable garden.”

Nice move with the vegetable garden, I’d have to say. It truly is a battle for the ages — will old-school and time-tested pragmatic conservation (i.e. rain barrels to offset Begley’s wife’s long showers) be defeated by flashy high-tech gadgetry (a solar panel system that shows when more power is being made than used), or will it roar in alternative-energy victory? Only time will tell, and both sides keep fortifying every day. Despite Nye’s bold declaration of domination, both parties assert that the rivalry is all in fun and bring great publicity to the eco-friendly house cause — Begley even now has a line of environmentally-safe cleaning products on the market. But whether the rivalry is truly all fun or a bit more venomous and cunning, it still leaves one burning question unanswered.

Where is Beakman in all of this?

• Reusable bags get all the hot dates. [Bag Monster Blog]
• Going green: a matter of pride. [Bay Area Reporter]
• Julia Roberts is down with reusable bags. [Ecorazzi]
• Plastic bags with your newspaper? Nein, danke! [Tree Hugging Family]
• Can a Proj-Run challenge translate to real-life fashion? Welp. [Etsy]
• NEWS ITEM: your phone book is made out of paper! [Everything Jersey]
• The bag debate is heating up in the Icy North. [Business Edge]
• Have you ever seen a rain barrel? (I haven’t.) [Waldo County Citizen]
• The British Virgin Islands turn trash into treasure. [BVI Platinum]
• Environmentalism isn’t always black and white. [Bakersfield Californian]
• Art made out of trash? Yes, still fascinating thanks. [Wicked Local]

How dreamy is that? Any time celebrities cast in their lot with an environmental cause, people listen, and to have such a heavyweight as Edward Norton cast in with ours in this National Geographic PSA slot is pretty magical. All I can say is that if Norton says to pick up some reusable bags, it’s time to pick up some reusable bags.

I mean, unless you want to make Edward Norton angry. But… well… you probably wouldn’t really like that, now would you?