Defending the Environment with Global Green: Jeff Bridges and Celebs Speak Up

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By Jessica Blotter • Posted on Mar 14, 2017

Global Green USA, a national leader in advancing sustainable and resilient communities, brought together the Hollywood community at its annual Pre-Oscar Party on Feb. 22, at the new Dream Hollywood, a Kind Hotel making its debut later this spring. Known as the GREEN event of the year, it was a way to Stand with Standing Rock and celebrate environmental leaders working to protect the people, places, and planet in need as we face the twofold problem of climate change and pollution. Its honorees included the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman David Archambault, II, Plastic Pollution Coalition, 4Navitas, Polar Adventurer Douglas Stoup and Earth Day Texas CEO Ryan Brown.

As a Kind Charity on the Kind Traveler platform, helping to empower the travel community to become defenders of the environment, we were thrilled to join Global Green as a sponsor and support its efforts in raising consciousness about the planet’s need for a more sustainable future.

Kind Traveler Ambassador and Host, Rachel Rudwall, asked eco-friendly celebs (Jeff Bridges, John Salley, and Jenna Ortega) on the 'green' carpet what it meant to '#TravelKindly' to them, check out the video below on what they had to say:

“ A lot of times people go into hotels and say ‘it’s not my water.’ It is… It is your water. It doesn’t matter if someone else is paying for it… when you use it, it’s hard to reuse.” – John Salley

Jeff Bridges, John Salley, And Jenna Ortega Talk Traveling Kindly At Global Green's Pre-Oscar Party

The annual fundraiser creates awareness and funding for Global Green’s initiatives in Los Angeles and cities throughout the country. By greening cities, schools, and affordable housing, Global Green is able to help protect human health, improve livability, and support our planet’s natural systems in an effort to stem climate change.

Since its beginnings, Global Green has influenced the construction of more than $20 billion dollars in sustainable housing and green building. They’ve also educated millions of people about climate-friendly solutions and amongst many wins for the planet, are recognized for its recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina in leading green rebuilding efforts.

Global Green President and CEO Les McCabe stated “The modern environmental movement was led by citizen activists nearly five decades ago and we will demonstrate the massive national and global support for environmental and climate action through citizen activists today.”

Actress Jane Fonda, Chairman Chad Harrison + Actor Orlando Bloom

Standing Rock

“While recent federal decisions and the national political winds have brought setbacks to the fight, the long-term battle for Standing Rock is just beginning,” voiced Orlando Bloom. With Jane Fonda standing alongside of Bloom, she shared experiences from her 5-day protest in North Dakota last November. “Standing Rock HAPPENED, and they can never take that away from us… that spirit is now going out all across the country.”

Standing Rock Sioux tribal councilman Chad Harrison spoke on behalf of Tribal Chairman David Archambault II, who received the Global Green Champion Award.

“We have learned three important lessons from Standing Rock,” Harrison said. First, “We have a voice and we want it to be heard. We are Americans, the first Americans, and we want to be treated as such.”

Second, “Our cause is pure, as pure as the water we are fighting for, as pure as the resources that we have… If you guys ever want to come up and look at what the Great Plains used to look like… come up to Standing Rock… It’s worth protecting.”

And third, “We are not alone. We have all of you, we have over 360 sister tribes who have come to join our tribe in a show of unity to display to the status quo that we want change… not only for our people but for the environment, for our resources and for people worldwide.”

Ending with a promise to continue fighting for Mother Nature and water rights, the tribal councilmen ended by saying, “We will move it to the halls of Congress, we’ll move it to the court rooms, right up until we cannot do anything else, we will keep that fight going!”

Actor Jeff Bridges speaks onstage during the 14th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party at TAO Hollywood on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Actress Jane Fonda attends the 14th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party at TAO Hollywood on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

John Salley speaks onstage during the 14th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party at TAO Hollywood on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Singer Estelle performs onstage during the 14th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party at TAO Hollywood on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Actor Jenna Ortega attends the 14th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party at TAO Hollywood on February 22, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Plastic Pollution Coalition

Legendary actor and activist, Jeff Bridges (Tron, Iron Man, Hell or High Water, Kingsman: The Golden Circle), presented an award to Dianna Cohen of Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) for its efforts to stop plastic pollution in communities around the world.

PPC’s is a growing global alliance of organizations, businesses, and thought leaders working towards a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, and the environment.

Actor Jeff Bridges + Honoree Dianna Cohen

“Not only is the world facing an overwhelming waste and toxicity crisis from plastic pollution but since plastic is made out of oil… it’s also contributing to climate change,” Bridges shared.

Cohen shared with Kind Traveler, “We’re working with Bonoroo Music Festival and launched a program with them four years ago called Refill Revolution which they’ve been scaling up. They’ve helped save so far 1.5 million plastic water bottles and plastic cups.”

As shared on its website, by 2050, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by weight. “Worldwide reliance on disposable plastic packaging is overwhelming our planet.”

Plastic Pollution Coalition - OPEN YOUR EYES - Overview Narrated by Jeff Bridges (2016)

Simple, inspirational tips on how to live plastic-free can be found on plasticpollutioncoalition.org.

Conscious Living & Traveling

Conscious businesses, such as Earth Friendly Products, also joined in sharing insights on how to work towards a sustainable future. We talked with its CEO, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, as she shared tips on how to #TravelKindly as a Kind Traveler: “To travel kindly is to travel with meaning and to travel places we love and to always look out for our carbon footprint. There’s wonderful things we can do to offset our footprint, and we should look to do those things. We should also look at eco-transportation, eco-hotels, green hotels across America, there are so many ways in which our travels can create a lifelong memory and still protect and preserve our planet.”

Earth Friendly Products CEO Kelly Vlahakis at Global Green’s Pre-Oscar Party: How To Be A Kind Traveler

“There are so many ways in which our travels can create a lifelong memory and still protect and preserve our planet.” – CEO & President, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, Earth Friendly Products

Additional eco-friendly celebrity presenters and supporters included John Salley, Paula Abdul, Jenna Ortega, Cody Simpson, Ed O’Neil, Oliver Stone, Garcelle Beauvais, James Van der Beek, Ryan Guzman, Taylor Dayne, Estelle, and Rachel Griffths, united in taking a stand for green in sharing their voices to spread awareness about the environmental challenges and successes impacting our world.

Taking a stand for a more compassionate and conscious society that includes human rights and environmental justice has never been more important at a time when the modern world faces extreme inequalities.

Jessica Blotter, Nikki Sharp, Kim Kessler, Audrey Slade

Check out some of tips Global Green has shared with us on how you can be a Kind Traveler:

Book Kind Hotels on Kind Traveler + choose Global Green as your choice charity. A $10 donation unlocks exclusive hotel rates up to 25% off and helps to build green cities, schools, and affordable housing. 100% to Global Green.
Visit a local farmers market

Visit a national park +/or cultural community center
Don't be afraid to eat ugly veggies
Use public transit as much as possible
Travel with refillable water bottles to avoid plastic bottles
Always carry a reusable bag with you to avoid excess plastic waste

Learn more about how to #TravelKindly with Global Green here.

Photo Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Global Green, Plastic Pollution Coalition

Kind Traveler CEO, Jessica Blotter, is a kindness curator who dreams of a world where people, animals, and the environment are treated with love and compassion. Follow her to discover where kindness can take you and insights on what it means to travel kindly.