Posts Tagged ‘Eco’
Amy Smart and her husband, Carter Oosterhouse share eco-friendly tips for creating a green household just in time for Earth Day. They chatted with Senior Fashion Editor Katrina Mitzeliotis about their wedding, advice for newlyweds and how they make their marriage work.
Amy Smart not only has a lot on her plate, she needs an enormous, biodegradable serving platter to accommodate all the things she has going. When the 36-year-old, Topanga Canyon-bred actress is not shooting the Showtime series Shameless, the upcoming TBS laugher Men at Work, or a movie, she directs her indefatigable self toward more altruistic pursuits, such as saving the giant marble we’re all living on. She’s a longtime volunteer and board member of Santa Monica’s Heal the Bay. In fact, Smart will be honored for her environmental leadership over 18 years of volunteering with the organization at its annual Bring Back the Beach awards gala at The Jonathan Club on May 17. She is also on the board of directors for the Environmental Media Association. From speaking out about plastic-bag use to cleaning up the beaches of Torrance, Smart is not shy about showing her unbridled passion for the planet.
What first inspired you to get involved in issues surrounding the environment?
Growing up in Topanga Canyon, being in the mountains and surrounded by nature inspired me. My parents always loved nature, and that inspired my brother and me. Growing up I was always aware of the environment [through] beach cleanups, hikes, and bike rides in the canyon. Right out of high school I wanted to get involved and saw Heal the Bay posters around. That was my first venture into environmental work when I was 18.
How did you go about volunteering?
I called Heal the Bay and asked if I could volunteer with people, not in an office stuffing envelopes. They told me about their Speakers Bureau, where I trained for a month back when [founder] Dorothy Green was still alive, touring sewage-treatment plants and learning about drainpipes and the history of how water gets polluted.
In the beginning, did you encounter more resistance or cooperation?
It was a real mix. I felt every time I went to a class or an assembly and talked about Heal the Bay, most of the kids were really excited—they had something to say, they wanted to make a difference, and they didn’t want to pollute. I got more resistance from adults and friends of mine who didn’t want to make any changes or take any responsibility for their actions.
Is there a moment that stands out in your 18 years with Heal the Bay?
For years I was volunteering, and I looked at [former HTB president] Mark Gold as my idol. He’s an incredibly smart leader, a Heal the Bay scientist who made change happen. When my [acting] career started growing and I got more notoriety, he asked me to be on the board of directors. I was so honored. I did a press conference with him about the Beach Report Card rating.
What kind of support do you get from others in entertainment?
Again it’s been mixed. Ultimately different people have different causes —there are so many. I feel I stand up for pretty much all of them, but you can spread yourself too thin, so I try to be discerning and effective.
How do you try to inspire the eco efforts of others?
I realized preaching can push people away; one of the best things you can do is lead by example. I started becoming more eco in my habits—some transferred over, some didn’t. That’s okay—people make changes when they’re ready. At this point it’s everybody’s responsibility.
How have your outreach efforts changed someone’s viewpoint on the environment?
When my friends have gotten pregnant, and it stopped being about them and became about the child, they were more receptive to green ideas. Some people don’t care what they put on or in their body, but when it comes to a child, they’re much more sensitive. I plan to have children, and all our actions will positively or negatively affect our future generations, so we should work to keep the planet healthy and sustainable.
How does it feel to be honored at this year’s Bring Back the Beach event?
I’m extremely grateful and honored to be receiving [the Dorothy Green Award] this year. I highly respect and love Heal the Bay; their work is so effective, far-reaching, and impactful on the ocean.
What keeps you going?
Finally seeing changes and how they’re affecting people. You can work so hard for so long and then see change—a law gets passed, a ban gets passed. There is change happening; it’s not stagnant.
We had the opportunity to chat with eco-powerhouse Amy Smart and Carter Oosterhouse while they were on set promoting the new Schick® Xtreme3® Eco™, an eco razor made from 100% recycled plastic and packaged in 100% post consumer paper.
The green duo talked to us about their eco-habits at home, favorite designers, local foods and more.
Both of you were already environmentalists when you met, but there is always more that can be done. Were there any green habits or tricks you learned from one another once you moved in together?
Amy Smart: I have to say, living with him, he uses reclaimed materials a ton. He always finds a way to repurpose anything that could be trashed. So that’s inspired me to be more eco in that way.
Carter Oosterhouse: We’ve learned a ton of stuff from each other. Whether it’s like making sure, you know, you’re taking your hangers back to the dry cleaners and not tossing those out. Making sure that you’re using eco-friendly cleaning products, not just in the bathroom but throughout the entire home.
Amy Smart: Even buying furniture, a lot of them are like FSC certified wood and different kind of materials that are more eco. Or bamboo.
Carter Oosterhouse: Yeah, I mean a lot of furniture is FSC and that’s great. I mean if you can look for the FSC seal, perfect. If you can use pieces that are maybe, they’re hip and the trend right now is to be rustic, is to be vintage. It’s really in right now and it looks really cool.
Do you incorporate eco-friendly foods into your diet?
Amy Smart: We definitely incorporate a lot of eco-friendly foods into our diet. I mean, I like to shop at farmers markets, get local produce, buy organic because when you buy organic you’re not contributing to all the pesticides and herbicides that get into the water table. It also is like you’re donating to the environment as well. So I think it’s super important to start, you know, on a food level to eat consciously as well as meat and dairy, you know, eating organic.
How about clothes? Any favorite green designers?
Amy Smart: As far as green designers and clothes, you know American Apparel started making an organic line which is pretty mainstream and it’s great because it’s made in America. They’re really on the rise. It’s inspiring to see green fashion. Well recently, we’re also talking with Livia Firth, Colin Firth’s wife who is taking the green carpet challenge during awards season and getting different A-list actresses to wear eco-clothing on the red carpet which is again getting all the designers to start going green. Stella McCartney is a vegan designer which is pretty inspiring. And of course, all kinds of fashion you want your legs to be nice and shaved so you want to use an eco razor, and your arm pits.
Carter Oosterhouse: That’s really well said.
If you could change one thing about the way people live and get them to adopt an eco-friendly habit, what would it be?
Amy Smart: If I could get people to change one thing in their life about the way they live and make them adopt an eco-friendly habit, I would say that using reusable products as much as possible, whether it’s reusable bags or reusable water bottles. And if you do have plastics in your life that you’re using, it’s so important to recycle them. As you can see with this great eco razor, it’s all 100% recycled plastic, so it’s repurposed which is so important.
Newlyweds Amy and Carter are launching Schick’s eco-friendly disposable razor and they tell YOU about their beauty and grooming routines!
The handle of the Schick Xtreme3 Eco razor is made from 100 percent recycled plastic — made from recycled coat hangers — and the packaging is 100 percent recycled paper. Amy Smart and her HGTV star husband Carter Oosterhouse are spokespeople for the razor and are launching the Schick Xtreme3 Eco’s Project Remake contest that asks people to create a functional item out of salvaged materials. Amy and Carter explain how they stay eco-friendly themselves, who their celebrity beauty inspirations are and what their grooming routines are like.
Amy Smart is teaming up with LovingEco, a hot new ethical flash sale site, to help raise funds for the Environmental Media Association. She has selected some of her absolute favorite eco-finds including Josie Maran Cosmetics, fabulous dresses from LTR, stylish sustainable jewelry from Kyler Designs, sunglasses from Kayu, sexy swimsuits from Kelly B and more fun dresses from Curator.
LovingEco gives consumers all the style they want, but without the guilt. They host weekly sales (items up to 70% off) with companies that produce ethical items. What does ethical mean? Well, they label each product with terms like cruelty free, vegan, fair trade, recycled, made in the USA and organic.
In addition to introducing awesome responsible companies to kind-hearted fashionistas, they donate 3% to charity. How does a charity get chosen? LovingEco has a different eco-influential “tastemaker” each week who curates a boutique featuring the best products from that week’s brands. The tastemaker chooses which charity gets the cash.
This week, actress Amy Smart will be the tastemaker for LovingEco. By signing up for LovingEco’s daily deals, you’ll get the inside scoop on Smart’s eco style picks and, of course, the ability to buy ethical items at a nice discount.
Amy isn’t just in it for the fashion. She is the chairperson for the Environmental Media Association’s Young Hollywood Board. The EMA believes that through television, film and music, the entertainment community can affect change in a positive way. That means if you see a character on your favorite show coming home from shopping with his or her reusable bag, the EMA might have talked to the writers about including that eco-friendly behavior. They were also the smarty pants behind getting celebs to drive hybrid cars to award shows instead of riding in gas guzzling limos.
Check out EcoRazzi for a chance to win a $595 value prize pack from LovingEco!
Supporting ocean cleanliness got a fresh face Tuesday when the Department of Motor Vehicles and California Coastal Commission joined forces to reveal a redesigned custom license plate, the sale of which will benefit ocean-loving nonprofits all over the state.
Santa Monica was one of three cities chosen to unveil the new design, which shows a fully-extended humpback whale’s tail jutting up out of the ocean, framed by puffy white clouds.
The plate, which first debuted in 1997, has been one of the most popular specialty license plates available in the state, and has raised $60.2 million for environmental conservation efforts.
“We’re really thrilled about the launch of the California license plate,” said Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), one of several notables that spoke at the event. “When I’m not in Sacramento, not a day goes by that I’m not marveling at the environmental treasure that California has in this coastline.”
The original design, by the artist Wyland, shows a foggy day on the ocean, and a whale’s tail curved over the surface of the water.
To date, the DMV has sold 198,000 of the original plates.
That design had to be retired on July 1, because Wyland asked for a 20 percent royalty for plate sales, officials said.
“While we are grateful to Wyland for his donation over many years, we opted to retire the plate,” said California Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas. “This presented an exciting opportunity to freshen the look of the plate, inspire new interest and get the public involved.”
The California Coastal Commission held a contest asking the public to send in designs for the plate. Over 300 people sent in designs, and the selection committee managed to narrow that cache of ideas to two winners.
Those winners, painter Elizabeth Robinette Tyndall of Bethel Island and graphic designer Bill Atkins of Laguna Beach, collaborated on the new design.
“(The DMV) would like to say job well done,” said Christina Harden, who represented the department at the pier event.
Selling the plates has a palpable impact here in Santa Monica.
Of the 433 Whale Tail grants that have been awarded through the program, Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay has benefited to the tune of $30,000 to fund its beach clean up programs.
The organization organizes between 600 and 900 clean ups every year for the stretch of beach between Cabrillo and Zuma beaches, said Eveline Bravo, the beach programs manager for Heal the Bay.
Whale Tail money pays for approximately 500 of those projects, she said.
“It’s the sole reason why the clean ups at Heal the Bay exist,” she said.
The license plates both fund the pick-ups and raise awareness, said Amy Smart, actress and board member of Heal the Bay, pointing out that 80 percent of trash found on beaches comes from 60 miles away.
“The Whale Tail plate is an easy way to let people know that we need to protect our sea,” she said.
To encourage people to get out and buy the plates, Mayor Scott Schoeffel of the city of Dana Point issued an invitation to other mayors for a Whale Tail Cities Challenge, to see which participating city can claim the most plates sold, as a percentage of population before Sept. 17.
The winning city will get a basket of locally produced foods and beverages from each of the participating cities, to be shared at a community meeting or event.
Sept. 17 marks the endpoint of the competition because it’s also the 27th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, which is partially funded by the sale of the “Ecoplates.”
Over 82,000 volunteers participated in last year’s event, and collected 1.2 million pounds of trash.
A coalition of Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus from coastal cities including Santa Monica hope to inspire even more this year by giving away a $1,000 gift certificate to Whole Foods Market and a getaway to a California destination to lucky participants.
Whale Tail Ecoplates can be bought at www.ecoplates.com or at one of 168 DMV locations. Plates cost $50, or $93 for personalized versions.
Last night, Amy Smart and her fiancee Carter Oosterhouse were in attendance and presented at the Green Awards Celebration in Los Angeles. I have just added 38 photos from the event into our photo gallery!
Earlier this week, Amy Smart was at a grocery store in Los Angeles bagging groceries with Homeboy Industries to promote the use of reusable grocery bags! I have just added 11 photos of Amy and fellow actresses/friends and EMA members Rosario Dawson and Rachelle LeFevre into the gallery.
