This time last year, we were reporting Rufus Griscom, the mind behind sex-with-a-brain site Nerve.com, was expanding beyond his latest spin-off (parenting site Babble.com) with an environmental blog. And then … nothing. Realizing we went nearly a year without seeing Griscom launch his green title, we revisited the issue in August, where Griscom told us "our research indicated that the green advertising category is inadequately mature so we put it on ice … We will launch it at some point, but only when the advertising base is there." Might Griscom have been wiser, then, than the treehugging webtrepreneurs attempting the same thing? CONTINUED »
While fluffy magazine editor Richard David Story, of Departures, uses his editor's letter each month to pay favors to the lush resorts and jewelers whose procurement of services allow for his glossy editorial each issue, there are some fluffy magazine editors who see their intro copy as a chance to make a difference in the world. There is Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, who pens his editor's letter to lambaste the Bush administration in print the way Keith Olbermann does it on the tele every night. This month GQ's Jim Nelson waited 136 pages to tell us how excited he gets about politics, and how excited he gets seeing other people excited about politics. (Okay, that's not exactly going to make a difference in the world, but at least he mentioned something other than clothing.) And at Allure, a magazine we do not read but assume to be stuffed with advice about choosing the right lip gloss color to match your scarf, editor-in-chief Linda Wells is now using her letter to readers to bring change in the environment. And Wells' efforts are, in some ways, more game-changing than even Graydon Carter's, because while he attacks the right-wing political machine, he's not exactly risking any particular advertiser. But this month Wells is going off on the very beauty companies who advertise in her magazine, for using excessive packaging to create the allure of luxury, all while creating excessive trash. It's like there's something meaningful in her words! CONTINUED »
Al Gore, the non-candidate environmental do-gooder whose television network Current TV we tell people we watch (but secretly don't), is rumored to be buying the green magazine Plenty. This is also a magazine we might pretend to read, but secretly don't. Of course, Plenty — which features Gore on its cover, because, like who else is there? — is all about the environment, which explains why it's printed on 85 percent recycled paper and supposedly remains carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets. But also, a magazine about the environment should know that carbon offsets are basically bunk, and a terrible excuse to continue polluting.
It's easy to forget things when your mind is filled with Olympics drivel, which is why it took us until this week to wonder, "Hey, whatever happened to Nerve.com's environmental blog it was supposed to launch?" Indeed, Jossip reported way back in October 2007 that Rufus Griscom & Co. were expanding beyond high-brow sex and baby mamas for a green site — but then, nothing. So we asked Rufus "WTF?" and he was all: CONTINUED »
A show of hands here: Who plans on buying a Louis Vuitton bag because it supports Al Gore's climate change project? How about slapping down an extra 300 bucks for a gold-painted recycling logo on your $2,300 Murakami bag?
The fashion biz, like every other industry, is feeling the push to "go green," which is less about climate change than it is about including warm fuzzies about Mother Nature in your marketing campaign. This means a look book stuffed with descriptions like "organic" and "environmentally sustainable."
It's comparable (but not quite as bad) as Exxon saying they are green because they've met with some environmental lobbyists. Or McDonalds saying their food is healthier in reaction to Supersize Me. Except in fashion, it's overconsumers like Marc Jacobs who pretend to send the message.
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While the Olympic media are learning some lessons the hard way — such as: do not take a picture of Chairman Mao's portrait, or Chinese guards will shove you — the biggest challenge on their plate is surviving the smog, which has returned to Beijing after a few days of clear air, which was triumphantly portrayed as China caring about the environment. "At first I thought it was the smell of the jet engines," blogs CNN's Steve Almasy. "Then I thought it was the bus engines. But as we pulled away from the Beijing airport in the media shuttle, the stench was joined by a haze. It was 830 p.m. when I arrived with some of the guys from CNN sports. So we have yet to get the full visual effect of the smog. The smell of the pollution lingers with us now as we sit in the cafeteria, having a few drinks, swapping stories about the flights over and Olympics past …"
Hey look! It's the magazine industry's shiny new logo dedicated to going green. Slapped on various magazines, it's a bold reminder that, hey, readers can do something to save the environment.
Now, when this effort results in absolutely zero change, industry analysts can look toward the fact that this recycling marker has been used for years, and here we are in the middle of a climate crisis, so it's not exactly the most effective technique. CONTINUED »
Green noise. Green fatigue. Eco-anxiety. For as many ways to describe how trendy it is for upper-middle-class types to start caring about the environment, there are equally as many ways to describe another environmental trend: Mother Earth backlash. For all the hype surrounding saving the planet, from Al Gore's horror film to the demands that you stop drinking bottled water, the same people who initially jumped on the bandwagon are now, you're to believe, falling off it from exhaustion. Naturally, the trend-happy media has been quick to jump all over the latest "it" thing: that saving the planet might just be the newest form of American apathy. [CJR]
There's been a singular notion around New York City's government agencies recently, for the type of people who think about this sort of thing: How come NYC so encourages residents to drink tap water – which is among the cleanest in the country – while stocking its own offices with water coolers and bottles? For one, because they like to spend taxpayer dollars. And also, because they can. UNTIL NOW!
New York's City Council, which went through 6,000 bottles last year, will no longer stock bottled water; they're even replacing water coolers with jugs that use filtered tap water, rather than whatever those hunky guys in the delivery trucks carrying plastic containers on their shoulders have been serving us. The decision comes on the heels of trend stories like this one that claim there's a bigger push across America to start refilling bottles with tap water rather than grabbing a Voss every time thirst hits. CONTINUED »
We haven't seen these cups at Starbucks, so we can only assume their dreamy nature is a concept only. But here's the gimmick, as handed down by the cup's creator, the Natural Resources Defense Council: To promote that left-y concern known as climate change, these cups change in color when filled with a hot liquid.
Like so: At rest, the exterior of the cup is green, showing a lush green planet filled with rainforests and Central Parks as far as the eye can see. But what happens when you pour a skim half-caf vanilla latte inside? The heat reacts with the cup, turning those green pastures into an ugly brown, like desertification might look like if this planet keeps warming!
Aaah! Feeling bad about the environment! At 7am with your first dose of caffeine! This world is unjust.
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Two more ways to ruin your morning by overdosing on green awareness, below. CONTINUED »
One week of watching the new Discovery Channel spin-off network Planet Green was all television critic Troy Patterson could take before, as he tells it, he "want[ed] to go out and kill a dolphin."
Why such a harsh reaction to a network supposedly dedicated to saving the planet? Because the network's shows have turned our concern for the environment into "an upper-middle-class privilege and a status marker." Case and point: That they've enlisted HBO star Adrian Grenier to explain how doing good things for our planet fits right in with his asshole Entourage lifestyle. CONTINUED »
"Hot and sticky air is expected to reach the [New York City] area by Saturday afternoon, as temperatures approach 100. This will likely kick off a few days of unseasonably warm and humid weather with temperatures 15-20 degrees above normal." [WCBS]
In other news, the "world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power" in order to save the planet. [AP]
Harrison Ford has a new little movie out that he's been busy promoting. But he's also been busy promoting Mother Earth! Here he is in a spot for Conservation International, fighting against deforestation, the nasty habit that releases all that harmful carbon into the atmosphere.
By getting his chest hair ripped out with hot wax, he's demonstrating how the uprooting of innocent trees in other parts of the world hurts us at home.
So, think global, act local? That goes against everything we were raised on.
"Honda wanted to raise the green credentials of its lawn and garden equipment and to remind avid gardeners that Honsa’s range of products its not only good for their garden, it’s also good for the environment. Their solution was a letter that grows. They printed the direct mail piece on specially made paper containing seeds that could be planted to grow flowers. When consumers planted the letter, it became a permanent (and lovely) part of their garden. In terms of a gardening message, “Honda” literally became part of their garden. In terms of a green message, they went beyond “Carbon Neutral” and created an idea that would ultimately remove carbon from the atmosphere. Both the envelope and paper were 100% recycled, acid free and environmentally friendly. They even used green friendly inks." [Ad Goodness]
Reading the paper online instead of reading it in print might be good for your ink-smudged fingers, but when it comes to the environment, killing a few trees instead of powering up your PC is preferred — if you believe this convoluted explanation. [Slate]
With all his jet-setting, charity work and footballing, David Beckham’s carbon footprint is more than 17 times the size of the average Englishman's.
That goodwill trip to Africa is not enough. The Beckhams are really going to have to adopt now.
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Wal-Mart is claiming its decision to drop nearly 1,000 magazines is part of its recent “green” initiative. Incidentally, as far back as October, 2006 Wal-Mart had “analyzed sales performances by title for every individual retail store and calculated the appropriate allocation for each store to support sales and minimize returns.” So basically, if people who shopped at Wal-Mart bought the New Yorker, Wal-Mart would be thinking of another kind of green.
• Bill Nye, the Science Guy is seeking a restraining order against his ex-fiancee whom, he claims, is poisoning his vegetable garden. Seriously.
• Tucker Carlson devotees protest his impending involuntary departure.
• Jay-Z finally admits his lyrics have inspired "a whole generation of bad writers."
• Louis Vuitton successfully sues Britney Spears for cheapening the brand's luxury image. Talk about an open and shut case!
• There is a time and a place for rabid environmentalism. And that time is not December 25th.
• Breaking: Kate Spade's elderly, Jewish friend agrees to don Santa suit for emergency purse campaign.
Although we can’t always shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.
Recently, CNN producer David Doss informed sexually ambiguous anchorperson Anderson Cooper that the network's highly lauded miniseries "Planet in Peril" would most likely become a regular feature on AC360. Cooper's angry (and, presumably, unfiltered) response? He groaned, “Jesus Christ! We really need to solve this whole environmental thing quickly, because I really don’t want to do it again.”
Despite looking snazzy at last night's Planet in Peril premiere, CNN's ambiguous ubiquitous anchorperson Anderson Cooper was, evidently, less than motivated.
When CNN producer David Doss announced that Planet in Peril would probably become a regular feature on Anderson Cooper 360, Cooper groaned, "Jesus Christ! We really need to solve this whole environmental thing quickly, because I really don't want to do it again."
Or, to quote the words of a certain prescient pretend-frog: "It just ain't easy being green."
Editorial Director
