George Clooney nominated for Most Responsible International Celebrity in the International Green Awards

LaProfessora wrote:I've added my two cents to the voting. Only question, when you voted did you get any confirmation that the vote was accepted? I didn't.

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Vote for the world’s ‘Most Responsible Celebrity’
Friday, 20 July 2012 Date: 20th July 2012 – Voting is now open for the INTERNATIONAL GREEN AWARDS™ Most Responsible Celebrity Award. Nominees include the global eco-glitterati such as George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Ian Somerhalder, Sachin Tendulkar and fashion visionary Vivienne Westwood, among others.

This award seeks to recognise an international media figure who has consistently promoted the sustainability agenda globally and as a result, influenced mass audiences as a celebrity. The competition is now open to a public vote at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] This year’s nominees are comprised of 10 well respected celebrities who are deemed to have used their prominence to promote environmental and sustainable development issues and thus have become ‘responsible celebrities’. The candidate with the most votes will be announced as the winner at a showcase sustainable gala dinner on Tuesday 20th November at the Battersea Power Station, London. The winner will then be heralded as the ‘greenest’ media exemplar internationally.

Last year’s winner international supermodel Gisele Bündchen said in her acceptance speech “I have been blessed with the opportunity to bring attention to environmental causes, they are dear to my heart.” She also thanked her fans for voting and said of the award “Thank you for this special honour, I am filled with gratitude.”

In these troubled times for the environment, with climate-related disasters never far from the front page, it’s often news which features celebrities which attracts the most green media interest. The International Green Awards™ aims to raise the bar around the ‘cult of celebrity’. This award puts the spotlight on those progressive individuals who are keen to harness the power of the media, challenge conventional thinking on the climate agenda and who are really ahead of the game by ‘doing their bit’ for the future of us all.

Celebrities are undoubtedly some of the most powerful influencers in the world – they set trends for others to follow and thus are opinion leaders in their own right. In recent times as we adjust to the age of business transparency, an increasing number of celebrities have jumped onto the environmental bandwagon, while still others have truly embraced issues from animal rights through to deforestation and famine. Aside from their affluence, celebrities can set a very clear example for others as role models by endorsing sustainable lifestyles from recycling and purchasing low carbon vehicles through to switching to renewable energy.

All of the media figures selected have already used their media prominence in some way in the past few years to engage with mass audiences on environmental, CSR or sustainable development issues. In fact, many of the nominated celebrities are already recognised as ambassadors for organisations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Tony Juniper, Writer, Campaigner, Independent Sustainability Advisor and 2012 International Green Awards™ Ambassador commented “This is why I am proud to support the International Green Awards™, so that more people can see what is already happening, the leaders of positive initiatives be recognised and the rest of us to be encouraged by what they are doing.”

Don’t forget to make your vote count vote for the celebrity you respect the most by visiting [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] before 6th August.

ENDS


Editor’s notes:

INTERNATIONAL GREEN AWARDS™

The International Green Awards™ is the leading platform sustainability intelligence, leadership and innovation.

2012 Most Responsible Celebrity Nominees

Erykah Badu – Singer; USA
Soul singer Erykah Badu is a devout vegetarian and is known for her socially conscious outlook. She established the charity Beautiful Love Incorporated Non Profit Development (B.L.I.N.D.) supporting community development for inner-city youth through performing arts. She collaborated with Kiehl’s to produce an eco-friendly body lotion in a biodegradable bottle, encouraging people to use more products that do not harm the environment.

George Clooney – Actor; USA
George Clooney is well known for ‘walking the talk’ on environmental and humanitarian issues. Following the release of ‘Syriana’ he launched a campaign to reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil. More recently, he has been involved in a mission to stop the human rights atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Pierre-Yves Cousteau – Marine Conservationist; FRANCE
IUCN Ambassador and dedicated marine conservationist Pierre-Yves Cousteau is founder of 'Cousteau Divers', a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the marine world.

Penelope Cruz – Actress; USA/ SPAIN
Penelope launched the 'Red Carpet/Green Cars' Oscars campaign and is a leading advocate of its Greenest City challenge, which sees cities across the US compete to win a fleet of eco-friendly cabs.

Livia Firth – Eco-preneur; UK
Livia Firth has a fastidious commitment to sustainable fashion. She started the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) three years ago to bring the environmental and social issues surrounding clothing to the fore.

Nadya Hutagalung – Eco-Activist, TV Personality; INDONESIA/SINGAPORE
Nadya Hutagalung became a household name as a VJ on MTV, but is equally well-known as an eco-activist and advocate for sustainable living. Her website GreenKampong provides a forum for those interested in eco-friendly living and in conservation.

Ian Somerhalder – Actor/Model; USA
Ian Somerhalder set up the 'IS Foundation' with the aim to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures. One of his latest 'green' ideas is to make the Vampire Diaries set more eco-friendly.

Sachin Tendulkar – Cricketer; INDIA
Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has used his popularity to lend support to UNICEF campaigns in his home country. In 2010, he was also appointed as a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador and participated in the 2012 Earth Hour Challenge.

Vivienne Westwood – Designer; UK
The designer recently unveiled her new Manifesto titled ‘Do It Your Self’, which suggests that fashion should be less about the recent move towards 'throw away' philosophies, where people buy cheap items and throw them away after a short period of time, and more about recycling, quality and utilising key pieces.

Zhou Xun – Actress; CHINA
Zhou Xun, one of China’s most popular actresses, spends much of her time promoting ‘tips for green living’ through 'Our Part', a campaign she runs jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

VOTING FOR THE ‘MOST RESPONSIBLE CELEBRITY’ AWARD
Have your say in who really is the most responsible celebrity through our public vote on our website. Visit [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
To engage through social media, send a tweet to @GreenAwards with the hash tag #MostResponsibleCeleb and #GreenAwards.

For press enquiries contact The INTERNATIONAL GREEN AWARDS™ Team

00 44 (0) 20 7 877 0631/32/34

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Who’s The Most Responsible Celebrity of Them All…?

Posted on August 3, 2012 |George Clooney? Penelope Cruz? Or Erykah Badu?

The International Green Awards are asking the public to vote for the celebrity they think is most responsible when it comes to being environmentally friendly. As listeners to Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk 567 will know, I have been doing the Celeb Green Tip on Redi Direko’s show for many years, getting hints and tips from those famous faces I’ve interviewed about how they look after the planet. So it is with great interest that I present to you the nominees for this year’s International Green Awards…drumroll, please.

George Clooney
Penelope Cruz
Ian Somerhalder
Livia Firth
Sachin Tendulkar
Vivienne Westwood
Pierre-Yves Cousteau
Erykah Badu
Zhou Xun
Nadya Hutagalung

Last year, supermodel Gisele Bündchen won the first ever Best International Green and Responsible Celebrity Award at the Natural History Museum, London. The awards have been running for 7 years and will this year take place at the Battersea Power Station in London in November.

On first look, it would seem George Clooney is a clear winner – he’s always using his platform as one of the most in demand Hollywood actors to do good. But Penelope Cruz has been an active force in mobilising the Hollywood community to campaign on issues ranging from world poverty (RED and One campaign) to human rights and, more recently, has also joined the ecological debate. A supporter of Global Green, she launched the Red Carpet/Green Cars Oscar campaign and is a leading advocate of its Greenest City challenge, which sees cities across the US compete to win a fleet of eco-friendly cabs. Penelope herself is committed to driving hybrid cars.

Then we get to The Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder. His work is also impressive. He set up the ‘IS Foundation’ with the aim to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures. The IS Foundation focuses on habitat, energy and animals, as seeks to make connections to strengthen the push for positive environmental change. And the list goes on.

Celebs do have a sometimes unwarranted amount of social credit so if they can use it to help save the planet – why not?

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Who’s the ‘Most Responsible’ Celebrity of Them All?

Jennifer Birn

According to almost 10,000 votes logged by the International Green Awards’s ‘the Most Responsible Celebrity’ Award goes to….IAN SOMERHALDER! Stateside anyway.

The International Green Awards™recently announced they narrowed down their slate of 10 nominees for the 2012 Most Responsible Celebrity Award to a final three. Ian beat out fellow Americans George Clooney and Erykah Badu to join Eco-prenuer Livia Firth from the UK and Eco-activist and TV personality Nadya Hutalung from Singapore as the trio still in contention for the title, which will be announced at the International Green Awards gala ceremony November 20 at Battersea Power Station, London.

Replacing last year’s ‘Cult of Celebrity’ award, TGA says the ‘Most Responsible Celebrity’ award “recognizes an international public figure who has promoted the global sustainability agenda… This award puts the spotlight on those progressive individuals who are keen to harness the power of the media, challenge conventional thinking on the climate agenda and who are really ahead of the game by ‘doing their bit’ for the future of us all.“

Just today Ian, who has said, “I don’t know how to do anything else other than be an actor. If I wasn’t in this, I would be in alternative energy and conservation” penned a piece on America’s energy crisis for The Daily Beast! Check it out here.

You can learn more about the good work he’s up to via the Ian Somerhalder Foundation here and the awards at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

P.S: Ian has our vote to win the role in 50 Shades of Gray too!