Thank you Ana for connecting we to Art of Shade and some of the other EcoDesigners in Miami like Ecoist.

And thank you Karen for introducing me to Viktor and his fabulous repurposed pagent dresses for the Miss Earth Contest (video to come) and all the eco designers he mentioned to me as well. I can’t wait to meet them in October.

To be continued….

Written and photos by: Reel Green Diva Lauren Selman

This Year’s ESPYs goes to … the Environment

This weekend at the X Games in Los Angeles, ESPN is putting forward their Most Valuable Player…the Environment. This year’s special move is an innovative and interactive effort to encourage spectators to recycle beverage containers. The event features Global Inheritance’s TRASHed Recycling Store where anyone can exchange recyclables for prizes including autographed gear, music and other amazing merchandise available to those willing to limit the event footprint by taking charge.

But this isn’t ESPN’s first time playing the environmental game this year.

In fact, earlier this month, on July 14, many of the world’s top athletes gathered at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate their victories, incredible achievements and unmatchable feats.

As part of ESPN’s continued commitment to environmental stewardship, over the course of the set up, pre events, the awards ceremonies and post parties, the ESPYs Environmentality Team implemented innovative strategies focused on energy conservation, emissions reduction and waste minimization. From reducing vehicle miles by transporting celebs in multi passenger busses from the host hotel instead of limos to diverting waste and getting power from the sun, the environment was definitely playing center.

The winning plays that made the 2010 ESPYs the most environmentally friendly event on television were:

1: The Recycled Carpet Roll Out!

The ESPYs Red Carpet was made of approximately 50,000 post-consumer recycled plastic water bottles. The carpet will be reused for future events and then recycled at the end of its usable life.

2: The Zero Waste Win!

Production crews were given reusable beverage containers. Water and coffee refilling stations backstage eliminated single-use individual plastic water bottles and paper coffee cups.

3: The (Compostable) Catch!

Cups made from corn were fully biodegradable, and compostable service-ware was used in all areas including crew catering, press tent, backstage hospitality areas, dressing rooms, and at venue concession stands.

4: The Recycling Rebound!

ESPYs production supplies are carefully chosen for their recycled content and ability to be recycled. Custom-designed recycle bins and Environmental Ambassadors made recycling and composting easy and effective and eliminated discard materials from ending up in the landfill.

5: The Set Save!

The ESPYs set was designed with reuse in mind, using wood from responsibly managed forests. Most elements are from the 2008 and 2009 sets and will be stored after the show, instead of dismantled and discarded, then modified for future productions.

6: The Solar Nas-Cart

During The 10th annual ESPY Celebrity Golf Classic, participants (equipped with Eco-Golf biodegradable golf tees) were paired with an athlete or celebrity and played a daylong Golf Tournament which raised $1.134 million for The V Foundation for Cancer Research. As part of the fundraiser, celebrities and athletes signed a one-of-a-kind solar golf cart that was auctioned off online. Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones drove the cart during the tournament.

7: Zero Emission Ending Play!

The Red Carpet DJ rocked in the LA summer sun thanks to the solar panels attached to the roof of his DJ booth. After the ESPYs the panels were installed at a local Boys and Girls Club in Bell Gardens to power their computer lab.  The 2010 ESPYs was also a a carbon neutral event. After reducing energy consumption wherever possible, the remaining unavoidable greenhouse gasses generated by show production were mitigated through carbon offsets.

Winning sustainability plays like these and more can be found at:  http://espn.go.com/espys/#/environmentality

I have and always will custom design clothes on the side for friends and clients.  But when Apple Levy asked me to show my T.Hipwell for Ecodivas line of repurposed party dresses at the Green Girls 2 Year Anniversary I was flattered to say the least.  And I was so excited when Rebecca Mink said she’d love to pair her fabulous vegan shoes with my sassy dresses.

I am constantly amazed how supportive and helpful all of the amazing women in the green scene are.  So I want to give a special thanks to Apple for being brilliant, beautiful and ecodivalicious.

And the fun didn’t stop.  There were 12 designers total, all with a different flavor…which I will post separately with a few party pics.  Video to come…

Photos by: Lauren Selman

Being able to show T.Hipwell along side Puridee, Natural High Life, Brocolli City, Rain Tees, Reco Jeans and making friends with the gorgeous and hand selected uber down to earth models was amazing.

Dwell put on a really great show filled with Eco and non Eco Venders. My favorite part was hanging out with Design Star’s Antonio Ballatore “the Lady Gaga of Interior Design” (sorry it’s too good of a quote not to share:) and friends Richard, Sun Behr, Jake, Jen, Nicole Landers from Green and Vine at the W Hotel, Linda Loudermilk and Rachelle Carson Begley  in the EcoFabulous Reclaimed Space house.  Zem personally showed us all the sustainable aspects of the entire space inside and out.  The Reclaimed house is being auctioned off on Ebay.  All the money from the auction will be donated to Global Green.

From Art made from junk mail to Wall Gardens to learning about spiral water systems to sustainable pressed wood counters to repurposed glass…I loved chatting with knowledgeable people and EcoGeeking out about interior design.

So many EcoVenders, so many peeps curious about how to go green that typically aren’t eco, that really just wanted to know how…

Green uses eco-tainment, social media: recycle & retweet!
HOLLYWOOD – Green messaging today goes beyond “recycle and plant a tree” to “retweet and post a webseries/ blog” to help promote green themes via entertainment and digital / social media. That’s the summary from our pre-Earth Day panel co-hosted by Digital LA’s Kevin Winston and Rynda Laurel at the ivy-covered Green Door in Hollywood. Thanks to our panelists, sponsors and attendees for joining us! Several attendees won door-prize sponsor gifts including energy shots, books, eco-bags, artisan coffee, and waterless car wash packs.

Key Highlights

- “Eco-tainment” embeds green messaging into entertainment to reach more audiences.

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marketing, advertising, operations, and tech in Los Angeles.
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