Want a concrete plant to stop global warming? Just ask Daryl Hannah.

Actress and outspoken environmentalist, Daryl Hannah, recently weighed in on the Wall Street Journal’s blog The Experts in response to the question: “What – if anything – should we do about [global warming]?”

The actress laid out five areas of focus. First up is safeguarding our food and water supply through efficient management and conservation.

Hannah then said that extreme forms of fossil fuel extraction, such as fracking and deep-water drilling, need to be phased out as quickly as possible.

We must also immediately lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, while investing in a combination of decentralized renewable energy.

Hannah urges us to rebuild our soil through regenerative organic farming practices. This can be accomplished through composting, biochar, brown coal, Mycorrhizal fungi, vermiculture and managed livestock.

“If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest greenhouse-gas emitter behind the U.S. and China,” she said. Soil vitality can be restored, and methane can be reduced, by diverting organic waste away from landfills and livestock manure from ponds.

Hannah also pointed out that the aforementioned practices will do more than simply reduce carbon emissions:

“Maximizing regional self-sufficiency with these agricultural practices and energy production methods will strengthen local economies, make them more resilient, help prevent global conflict, and ease the sense of scarcity and the economic burden increasingly felt by the majority.”

Hannah concluded by saying, “While these changes might seem challenging, we do have the capacity—if we can only galvanize the will. Many communities have already begun implementing some of these solutions. But top-down change is also essential if we are to address the climate crisis with the speed and scale needed. For this to happen, citizens must insist on getting the influence of money out of politics and the legislative process.”

This article appears courtesy of Ecorazzi

Ecorazzi covers news and gossip on celebrities and notables in support of the environment and humanitarian causes. You can follow us on Twitterand Facebook.

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Bringing sexy back to eco, Justin Timberlake with EMA CEO Debbie Levin on the green carpet.

Honoring film and television productions that communicate environmental messages in the most entertaining and influential way, last Saturday’s Environmental Media Awards (shortened and pronounced “EMMA’s,” for those in the know) was a star-studded affair.

Held at the Warner Bros back lot in Burbank, California, the 21^st annual awards welcomed a committed group of cause-focused celebrities to lend their star clout to the event. Those stepping out in style on the green carpet included Ed Begley Jr., Kyra Sedgwick, Frances Fisher, Daryl Hannah, Madeline Stowe, Amy Smart, Nicole Richie, Valerie Bertinelli and Emily VanCamp.

Justin Timberlake was the head of the herd, taking home the Futures Award for his sustainably built Tennessee golf course, Mirimichi. Accepting his award to the sound of hit song, Sexy Back (deadpanning, “Turn it off,”) he described how he created the green space and Audubon International sanctuary, “to borrow a line from Joni Mitchell, I heard that somebody was going to take paradise and put up a parking lot, so I decided to buy paradise myself.”

Among the nominated eco conscious programming designed to educate and inspire was; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Real Time with Bill Maher, HGTV Green Home 2011, Yogi Bear, Revenge of the Electric Car, Futurama, The Futurama Holiday Spectacular, and, highlighting the importance of green education for kids – “very small people can make a big difference,” said producer Robert Scull –  Bubble Guppies, Boy Meets Squirrel.

The event was designed to be as green as possible, with the 600 person crowd feasting on local, seasonal and organic food and drinks served on compostable and reusable dinnerwear and glassware. Before the party got going, EcoSalon caught up with a few guests to discuss some of their favorite green fashion finds, or in Daryl Hannah’s case – the importance of not finding any.

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In addition to being a strong and versatile material for making everything from flooring to vases, bamboo just looks be-yoo-tiful. Take a minute to drool over these five bamboo products that we just love, love, love.

Daryl Hannah’s Worm Bin

Ecorazzi spied this gorgeous 3-quart kitchen compost bucket at Daryl Hannah’s eco-friendly home goods website. It’s only 40 bucks and looks good enough to leave in the corner of the kitchen instead of hidden under the sink.

Lexon Coffee Set for Two

This coffee set from Lexon comes with two coffee cups, two tiny spoons and a swanky bamboo tray that also includes two slide out coasters – so you don’t have to worry about leaving a ring on your table. This set would look awesome on a bistro table because it’s just too pretty to stash in a cupboard until you need it.

Gaiam Bath Ladder

Here’s a handmade bamboo ladder that’s sealed with a moisture-resistant finish so it’s perfect for the bathroom. Drape magazines or plush towels over the rungs, or just lean it against the wall and let it be pretty all on its own.

Bamboo Flatware

Perfect for your next picnic, this whimsical flatware is way more environmentally friendly than disposable plasticware, and looks a heck of a lot better, too. Crate & Barrel says it’s sturdier than hardwood so the serrated knife edge won’t get dull.

Staggered Bookshelf

This shelf would look spectacular in any room in your home. It’s offbeat enough to make it the focal point in your living room and versatile enough to hold everything from books to extra-tall vases.

The post 5 Bamboo Products We Love appeared first on EcoSalon.

They chow down the same foods we healthy middle-aged women eat: Quinoa, lean proteins, fresh organic produce, water from chic reusable Sigg bottles. They drive hybrids and raise funds for good causes, shun the direct sun, and sometimes even wear secondhand fashion (couture, of course).

But tinsel town celebrities my age, like Demi Moore, who is featured on the cover of W Magazine this month, are not like me or any of my healthy, naturally beautiful women friends. No, unlike the mere mortal soccer moms I rub shoulders with at book club gatherings and parties, Demi shows no signs of age or wear and tear. Where is the emerging turkey neck Nora Ephron wrote about? Where are the sagging eyes? Where are the cottage cheese thighs?

“Her body of work has been notable in no small part because of her notable body,” writes Moore cover story author, Kevin West, adding that, “hers is an undeniably striking version of midlife.” He assures us the striking former brat packer has changed at 47, evidenced by tiny lines when she smiles, but she has not gone under the knife.

“It’s their job to look amazing,” observes my astute 13-year-old daughter, Sydney. She tells me if it were her full time job, she would be flawless, too. Methinks my teenager looks pretty flawless now, but she would be happier with perfect hair and no blemishes, stuff that completes you when you are 13.

It comes down to the perception of perfection, and in achieving it, stars are spoonfed support from trainers and personal chefs. Most turn to plastic surgery, even prematurely, like America’s sweetheart Meg Ryan and highly respected eco goddess Daryl Hannah. In both cases, the surgery changed the lovely features we knew, while their bodies maintain the taut physiques of teens. In all cases, the goal is achieved. Defy age. Look young.

One looming exception is Meryl, but even the consummate thespian had to shape up to play a mature hippie in Mama Mia and Alec Baldwin’s ex and Steve Martin’s lover in It’s Complicated.

Still, Streep, now in her 60’s, is probably aging more naturally than any other major star. She doesn’t succumb to surgery and I haven’t noticed her photographs being altered through Photoshop, the favorite weapon in the arsenal of Hollywood anti-aging defenses. Streep doesn’t maintain a public persona outside of her appearances, stays out of the sun and avoids alcohol. Those are pretty good defenses, too. Bon Apetit, Meryl!

While I’m certain Demi stays gaunt for her industry, the W cover shot is not the body of a 47-year-old mother unaltered. My 47-year-old friends look amazing, but none of them have bodies like that. It’s the body of her daughter Rumer, perhaps.

The cover was as surprising as the Self Magazine issue featuring American Idol Kelly Clarkson, who didn’t actually slim down the way the magazine suggests on the cover, but erased those pounds thorough digital post-production. And how ’bout that ad featuring Ralph Lauren model Filippa Hamilton, who was deemed too fat at 5’10” and 120 pounds and had to be drastically Shopped to cut the mustard?

While the option of doing digital makeovers is the choice of each publication, the star still pays a price in terms of credibility.

I feel compassion when I realize society demands its idols be, well, objects to idolize. Air brushing and retouching are just a few of the finishing tools employed in the land of make believe, the land the media fully endorse because we fully buy into it. But at the end of the day, it just makes us feel sad. We can’t possibly live up to these images of perfection, and frankly, neither can the stars.

The alternative: finding a way to accept ourselves as natural beauties who do the best we can to stay healthy and fit and happy and productive – and admire how we are able to thrive in a world with so much adversity, sickness, hunger and negativity.

The Demoiselles website did a recent feature profiling celebs moving in the direction of self-acceptance, even unlikely candidates such as Kim Karshashian, who posed for the cover of Life & Style Weekly completely unretouched.

When asked by the magazine why she is so open about her body (i.e. showing herself receiving a cellulite treatment on her reality show), Kardashian said she was tired of people pretending they’re perfect and covering up things when in reality we are who we are.

“You can try to improve that, but the reality is, nobody’s perfect.” she declared.

But maybe we are perfect, Kim. Maybe we are perfectly flawed.

This is the latest installment in Luanne’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

Images: W Magazine, Plastic Sergeant, Sony pictures, ABC News, Life & Style Magazine, Luanne Bradley

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