Green Options

And the Oscar goes to…..Slumdog Millionaire!

Every once so often a wonderful movie about India wins a series of Oscars promising to finally put the face of this massive culture on the map. Gandhi, A Passage to India, Slumdog Millionaire. But after the initial euphoria, the world eventually goes back to life as they know it. This time, after sweeping the Oscars with eight awards, India’s slumdogs are headed back to the slums.

Think of Björk and the Icelandic musician’s bizarre videos, eccentric clothing and eclectic music might spring to mind. Now she’s bringing a new theme to her persona: money.

Reykjavik, Iceland-based Audur Capital is raising money for its second venture-capital fund, named Björk, focused on greentech startups (via Earth2Tech and The New York Times). The singer and Audur jointly established the fund to help turn around Iceland’s economy, which was crushed by the country’s banking collapse in the fall. Audur seeded the fund, expected to close in March, with an investment of 100 million Icelandic kronur (about $816,330).

All together now, “How green were they?”

Despite this year’s shortened Hollywood award season and last minute preparations, organizers managed to up the green cred for entertainment’s premier event, the Oscars®.

During the telecast, host Jon Stewart mentioned that the Oscars® had gone green, but didn’t go into any details…I was left wondering, “How green?” A quick trip to the Oscars website revealed a lot of detail. Some initiatives were simple prerequisites for any greening program, such as:

• Recycling collection for glass, paper, metal and plastics
• Use of low-VOC paints in the green room
• Reuse of anything and everything possible after the show, including plants, furniture, and set pieces
• Purchase of paper products containing post-consumer content

Other elements were a bit more interesting:

The Writer’s Guild of America’s strike is coming to an end. That’s good news for the writers and others who work in entertainment, of course, but it’s also good news for the planet. Why? Because Hollywood biggest night - and thus its biggest opportunity to use its influence for good - is just around the corner. The Academy Awards® are to be held on Sunday, February 24th.

To capitalize on the event, Global Green is hosting a pre-Oscar party. To be held on Wednesday, February 20th at super-club Avalon in Hollywood, the event just might provide celebrity gawkers with their fill of ogling…the Los Angeles committee includes such A-listers as Orlando Bloom, Penelope Cruz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Charlize Theron.

What a week we’ve had in green gossip, from the Oscars with our dear celebrities drenched in green, to Al Gore being thrown under the bus, to Indian celebrities dressed in scallion skirts. In terms of the Oscars, I know you’ve heard — it was an eco-friendly, tree-hugging love fest. The king of the festivities, Al Gore, became the bull’s eye by morning. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research (Publisher's FYI: The TCPR is

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Photo credit: UPI Photo/Phil McCartenEditor's note: Wendy Laird is our resident humor columnist. Remember, folks, it's all in fun…

Allow me to begin by saying that the Oscars are a bloated display of lopsided wealth and navel gazing. But I love fashion. There’s nothing that makes me feel as good as donning a well-cut hemp pinafore over a clean, crisp unbleached organic cotton tee, my long kitty-cat earrings just brushing the tops of

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The confetti has fallen, the set has been struck, and the awards have all been tucked away with their new owners . The largest entertainment party of the year is over, and it's time for a brief recap of all that was good and green (a first!) at the Oscars. (For a more substantial recap, you can check out my live blogging post here.)

Obviously, everyone this morning on the green scene is excited

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