According to the National Enquirer, environmentalist and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is trying to convince her old co-star Jerry Seinfeld to stop living like a super rich natural-resource sucking pig. I don’t pay a lot of attention to her, but it’s worth noting that she comes from obscene money, like she’s the heir to a billion-plus fortune, and prior to learning that I assumed she was just a sitcom actress paying her dues. She doesn’t pull rank or flash her wealth, is what I’m saying. This story kind of brings that home for me. Meanwhile Jerry Seinfeld owns at least 46 Porsches. Like I don’t know if it’s every single Porsche ever made, but it’s thought to be the largest collection. Anyway Julia is maybe-badgering Jerry about it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus] has been peppering Jerry, 57, with e-mails and phone calls in an attempt to encourage him to become environmentally friendly, said a pal of Julia.

“Julia is an avid recycler, only uses water when she has to and drives and electric car,” explained the source.

And while Jerry supports some conservationist causes and has done a promotional spot for America’s National Parks, “he loves his fleet of fast gas-chomping cars.”

In fact the insider said he even makes fun of people with electric cars!

“He joked to Julia that he isn’t ready to become a tree-hugger just yet, and that she should leave all the green stuff to Captain Planet…”

Jerry’s legendary car collection is house, in part, in a 22-car garage at his palatial Long Island estate…

In contrast, Julia… lives in a far more modest eco-friendly home in Montecito near Santa Barbara, CA.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, September 19, 2011]

The other day, this mom I know through my kid’s friend spent like a half hour on the phone trying to convince me to go to a Christian woman’s conference. I made the mistake (in her eyes) of once rejecting an offer for my kid to go to Bible study. This lady was truly convinced I was going to hell for not sharing her belief system and she somehow thought she could convince me where years of experience and study have failed. She was nicer about it than that, but the message came through loud and clear. (Most of my friends are Christians and they can tell me about their church and Bible stuff and we’re cool with each other. This was different.)

Just to clarify, I’m not saying that living an environmentally responsible lifestyle, and being committed to that lifestyle and trying to share it with your friends, is the same as being a religious person and thinking other people really must believe the exact same thing. I’m just thinking that to someone like Julia, who is so green she glows, she does see it as a personal mission to get her close friends to come around and lower their environmental footprint. Only she’s not saving their souls, she’s saving the planet. My take on it is that it takes more than just one person to get someone to come around. It’s like politics, people believe what they believe and it takes a personal experience to change their opinion. Being environmentally responsible is more of a societal issue in that it has to be easier and more convenient to do the right thing when it comes to recycling and living responsibly. And there are always going to be jerks like Seinfeld who feel entitled to take as much of the pie as they can.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is shown in August, 2010. Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld are shown in April, 2011. Other photo is a promo photo of the cast of Seinfeld. Credit: WENN.com

Earlier this year, Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men told UK publication The Guardian that he doesn’t own a car in LA, and lives in a home that is “just a wooden box” without mirrors or even a toilet. Kartheiser does his business at his neighbor’s house when he needs to go. He claimed that his commitment to living a simple lifestyle started as a reaction to all of the free swag that people were giving him that he didn’t want or need.

Kartheiser was interviewed recently as part of MSNBC’s “green week,” where he explained that he honors his commitment to the environment by being a vegetarian and by vowing not to have children.

Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell on ‘Mad Men’ and does not own a toilet, appeared on MSNBC Wednesday afternoon to talk about his “green choices,” which include avoiding driving, eating meat and having kids.

He said he stopped driving four years ago, when his car flooded and he found that taking the train instead “actually enriched my life. It made my life better to slow down a little bit and walk through the city.”

Vincent talked about other choices he has made to minimize his impact.

“I’ve been a vegetarian for four years and I have chosen not to have children, which are both green choices in my life,” he said. “I also xeriscaped my lawn.”

[From The Huffington Post]

A friend in the US once told me that he wouldn’t have children because he was committed to “zero population growth.” (He was older and married, and I wasn’t dating him or anything.) I had to look it up as I’d never heard of it before, but a lot of people think having children is just about the worst thing you can do to the environment. I’ve read that it’s not necessarily bad for the environment if you have one or two children and raise them to respect the earth.

I’m a materialistic person in many ways and I love shoes and clothes, but I do try and do my part by recycling, bringing my own bags to the store and eating meat only occasionally. When I lived in the US, I had friends make fun of me for washing and reusing ziplock bags. Now that I live in Germany, I appreciate how that sort of frugal approach is just part of the culture. More people take public transportation, almost everyone brings their own bags to the store and you buy less when you shop because you have to pack your own groceries. Things are just set up in a way that’s better for the environment, which can seem very inconvenient when you’re coming from the US.

So is there something sanctimonious about Kartheiser’s commitment to the environment, or is it kind of admirable in its way? I agree with Kaiser’s earlier assessment that he seems weird, but I also like what he said about how there are small things we can change in our lives that will make a difference. I hope the guy has a toilet at this point though. Now that I know this about him he just looks like he smells.

We’ve heard rumors that Brad Pitt is working on some kind of documentary about the impact of the massive oil leak in the Gulf. Pitt is an avid environmentalist with ties to the area through both a mansion his family purchased in New Orleans and the Make it Right project, which builds sustainable homes for Hurricane Katrina Victims. Pitt does appear in a Spike Lee documentary on the area, which will air on HBO tonight. It’s a follow-up to Lee’s 2006 documentary on Katrina, When the Levees Broke. The film, called If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, was meant to end with the happy news of the Saints winning the Super Bowl. Sadly, Lee had to continue filming to add on the whole BP disaster, which is where Pitt’s comments come in.

Brad Pitt has harsh words for BP in Spike Lee’s new documentary about New Orleans.

‘If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise’ is a four-hour followup to Lee’s 2006 film ‘When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.’

Lee landed an interview with Pitt, who owns a home in New Orleans with partner Angelina Jolie and whose Make It Right organization has built homes post-Katrina.

From a review of the film in USA Today:
Reflecting on those responsible for the oil spill, Pitt can barely contain his contempt.

“I was never for the death penalty before,” he says. “I am willing to look at it again.”

The film premieres Monday night on HBO.

[From Huffington Post]

I don’t blame him although I would opt for life in jail without parole – or a lifetime scrubbing rocks for 12 hours a day. The way that whole crisis has been handled is abhorrent. Officials at BP, through their own well documented negligence, are responsible for the deaths of 11 workers along with an environmental crisis that has killed countless sealife and will lead to nearly incalculable effects on the ocean and surrounding area for decades. There are also reports of very troubling illnesses striking fisherman and workers around the spill. It’s not that much of a logical leap to wonder if people in that area are going to be struck with chronic illnesses, not just from exposure to the oil but also from dispersants that are toxic to humans and wildlife.

So for someone like Pitt, who cares deeply about the environment and the people in that area, this whole crisis has got to hit hard. It’s much worse for the people who live there and who don’t have the resources to leave. Pitt knows this, and believes someone should be held accountable. You know they won’t be, though. BP has even been allowed to run a $50 million PR ad campaign touting what a great job they’re doing down there handling the disgusting mess they created. So many people would disagree. Heads aren’t going to roll for so many reasons, but there are plenty of people more affected by this than Pitt who wish they would.

Note: these pictures are from last year, when Pitt was just starting to cultivate that mangy beard

I just love Cate Blanchett. I love everything she does, I love when she speaks, I love looking at photos of her, I love how amazing she is. These are photos of Cate looking fabulous, of course, in Sydney. She did an event to highlight her work to turn the Sydney theatre district “green”. A rooftop solar installation began construction on the Sydney Theatre Company this week – that the company that Cate and her husband Andrew Upton are directors of. It’s great work, and Cate has put her time and money where her mouth is – but I just can’t over how she’s able to even look fabulous in a hard hat. She’s wonderful.

Cate Blanchett donned a hard hat, commando boots and a smart grey jacket to [promote] the green credentials of the Sydney Theatre Company. Construction commenced this week for a rooftop solar installation, partially funded by the Department of Climate Change, at the theatre at Pier 4, in Sydney’s Walsh Bay.

“Perhaps this whole area stretching from Barangaroo along Hickson Road and all the way to the Opera House [could be done up],” Blanchett said. “We could be well on our way to becoming the first green arts precinct in the world.”

Seventy per cent of the theatre’s energy needs will be provided by the solar panels and Blanchett says all of the companies at The Wharf would benefit from the green power.

“It’s not just the Sydney Theatre Company benefiting from the support of the Department of Climate Change but every single cultural company down here,” she said.

The project, Greening the Wharf, has been the vision of the Sydney Theatre Company’s artistic directors – Blanchett and her husband, playwright Andrew Upton.

“It’s our hope that Greening the Wharf increases awareness of climate change and demonstrates there is a wide range of measures that can be taken to reduce our carbon footprint,” they said in a statement.

It has taken three years of planning and fundraising to get the $5.2 million project off the ground. Blanchett joined MPs at its launch on the theatre’s roof. NSW Arts Minister Virginia Judge praised Blanchett for campaigning for the project, jointly funded by the federal and state governments.

“It’s a real testament to her perseverance, a lot of people have ideas but to stick in there and make sure it happens, we are all going to be blessed because of that effort, energy and vision,” she said.

“This is also a great initiative as all levels of government and agencies working together to get the best possible outcomes for the taxpayers of NSW.”

NSW Environment Minister Frank Sartor also reaffirmed the State Government’s commitment to renewable energy projects.

“We’ve got dozens of these projects around the state and we are starting to change the culture of use of energy and water,” he said. “Hopefully, over time, we will reach a more sustainable place.”

[From ABC News]

It sounds like an excellent initiative. I didn’t even know Cate was involved in any environmental causes, honestly. But she’s been trying to make this happen for three years? Good for her.

I’m conflicted about reporting this story because it breaks my heart to think of the devastation that’s going on in the Gulf right now. There’s also the very thorny issue of who is responsible, and whether President Obama and his team have properly handled the efforts to stop the massive oil leak from wreaking further havoc on the ocean’s ecosystem. Ultimately I think that BP is responsible but that the government should have stepped in sooner and more forcefully with experts from around the world instead of relying on a money-grubbing oil company to be able to clean up the mess caused from their own incompetence. Kaiser pointed me to this post Exxon Valdez law that holds energy companies responsible for cleaning up their messes that may have tied Obama’s hands and made it impossible to take jurisdiction away from BP.

While we’re watching this mess worsen hourly, all sorts of people have chimed in to try and stop this environmental disaster. There are a lot of good ideas out there. One of the people volunteering their expertise and equipment is producer/director James Cameron, who is best known for the hit Avatar.

Before we all jump on the “give me a break” bandwagon, let me say that Cameron has produced several incredible documentaries about the deep sea. He has an intimate knowledge of the ocean along with owning state of the art submarines that are advanced enough to explore the deepest and harshest regions of the ocean. I’ve seen an IMAX documentary called Volcanoes of The Deep Sea that was produced by Cameron, and it was truly awe-inspiring that he was able to get such clear footage from the very bottom of the ocean. (The movie also gave me a lot to think about in terms of the way the earth formed and how life evolved and I would recommend it.) If he can help at all, BP should take him up on his offer:

Mr Cameron, a billionaire after directing two of the highest grossing films of all time, contacted BP over the weekend to offer the use of his deep-dive craft. It is understood he has owned the craft since filming Titanic more than a decade ago.
He suggested that the manned vessels, currently in Lake Baikal in the former Soviet Union, could be used below water as part of BP’s sub-sea effort to repair the leaking oil rig, Deepwater Horizon.

BP is currently using 12 remotely operated vessels – known as ‘ROV’s’ – to carry out repair work to the blow-out preventer, the damaged safety device which sits atop the stricken rig, as part of its continuing relief effort.

Each of the ROV’s is roughly the size of a rubbish skip, and its two robotic arms are controlled by workers on ships at sea level to which they are tethered.

To date the ROV’s have been used to remove one of the two control panels from the blow-out preventer, and mend parts of its cabling ahead of the next stage in the relief operation.

That stage, known as top-hatting, will see BP attempt to propel various forms of dense material – including golf balls and pieces of car tyre – into the blow-out preventer to fill the leak, material which will be followed by mud and then cement in order to close off the well.

To date, BP has not taken Mr Cameron up on what a spokesman described as a “certainly a generous offer,” saying it has already been liaising with the US Department of Defence should it need to use manned submarines.

The Hollywood mogul’s suggestion was described as “long-term iron in the fire”, with some doubt expressed as to how exactly his vessels would be transported to the Gulf of Mexico.

BP already has what chief executive Tony Hayward described as an “armada” of 5,500 vessels involved in the rescue and clean-up operation, as well as “a small airforce including four Hercules C130s which are bombing the hell out of it [the slick] with dispersant”.

The company, which is working with rivals including ExxonMobil and Chevron plus government agencies including the US Coastguard and the US Geological Survey to take control of the looming environment disaster, is preparing to begin the top-hatting process in the next ten days.

The first step will come in the next day or so, when BP reinstalls one of the control panels on the blow-out preventer to give it the ability to operate the valves on the so-called “choke and feel” lines down which the dense material will be pumped.

Mr Hayward said that the US government, following a series of high-level visits to the affected region including one this week from Energy Secretary Steven Chu, is growing “increasingly confident that we have a method to intervene in a way that will lead to [a] permanent intervention.”

[From Telegraph.co.uk]

The people at BP have proven that they are complete idiots who will follow their own interests at all costs. Cameron knows what he’s doing and from most accounts he’s a hard ass who likes to step in and take contol. He’s also a committed environmentalists whose films deal with struggles between large corporate interests and basic human values. BP probably won’t deal with him, but they should. It would be poetic justice if Cameron’s efforts helped finally put an end to this tragedy. I’m praying that someone can do it sooner rather than later. All we’ve seen from BP is a bunch of cover ups and failed attempts.

While BP may be reluctant to deal with Cameron, the government isn’t. According to Radar he had a summit meeting with the EPA on Tuesday as part of a team of “officials, scientists and engineers” dedicated to finding a solution to stop the oil leak.

Hello! Magazine has a new interview with Harrison Ford, 67, and he comes across as very open and honest and like a great guy. I don’t remember the last time I saw an interview with Ford, so I watched a couple on YouTube, and he does seem like a normal, nice guy who also happens to be a movie star.

In Hello!, Ford talks about the pitfalls of fame and enthuses about his love of flying and riding motorcycles. The interviewer from Hello! points out that Ford is an environmental activist and that he drives a Prius. When asked if he’s planning a green wedding to fiance Calista Flockhart, he basically answers “of course.” Ford doesn’t say much about his commitment to environmental causes, but Hello! points out that he’s doing promotional work for the Team Earth project, which encourages people to live a more sustainable lifestyle. In that same interview, Ford admits to owning more motorcycles that he can count on both hands and Hello! mentions that Ford, a pilot, has five airplanes and a helicopter and owns three residences. Now how is owning six aircraft and three homes compatible with being conscious of your environmental impact? I’ll give the guy a break, though, as he’s donated a lot of money and time to environmental causes over the years.

Ford also speaks candidly about his love for fiance Calista, and you can tell that she means a lot to him. There’s no word as to when they plan to get married.

When it comes to work travel [Ford] often opts to take either a helicopter or an airplane which he pilots himself…

Every year, he divides his time between his Manhattan loft, his ranch in Wyoming and his home in Montecito…

On yearning for privacy
Ford: “It’s horrible to live with people looking at your nonstop. I’ll never get used to it. My fantasy would be to be invisible.”

On his love of flying
Ford: “I’m not just an actor. I’m also a pilot. I really enjoy the mix of freedom and responsibility that flying requires. I’m not seeking out the adrenaline as much as the pleasure of calculating risk and knowing where the dangers are.”

On his love for Calista
Ford: “I was 60 when I fell in love with Calista. What surprised me most was that I was still capable of establishing a long-lasting relationship, making a serious commitment. With my children, in my private life or my work, I try to learn from my mistakes and evolve.”

On a green wedding
Ford: “I haven’t thought about ‘greening my wedding.’ My wedding was always going to be green.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, October 5, 2009]

Ford confirmed earlier this month that a fifth Indiana Jones movie is in the works. We heard earlier this summer that Ford’s co-star Shia Labeouf said that filming had already begun on the fifth movie. Fox News has a new amusing editorial that asks if some action heroes are just too old to be convincing. The youngest guy they mention is Nicholas Cage, 45, and the oldest is Clint Eastwood, 79. Of Ford, 67, they say “Shia LaBeouf will be back [in Indiana Jones 5] to do more of the heavy lifting, but it will still be hard to watch Ford huff and puff his way alongside his much younger co-star.” Ford doesn’t see that as a problem, though, and told Hello! that he’s still around because “I’m not a trend, so you can’t replace me just like that.”

Harrison Ford is shown with President Jagdeo of Guyana to “Promote Forest Protection and the Announcement of Team Earth, a Global Sustainability Movement in Greeley Square Park” in NY City. Credit: L. Gallo/WENN.com. He’s also shown with Calista at the Deauville Film Festival on 9/13/09.

Brad Pitt showed up at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York early Thursday evening. Before he came out on stage for the panel discussion, they showed a really great short documentary with Brad, and interviews with people from New Orleans. It was a lovely profile of Make It Right and the devastation and regeneration of the Lower Ninth Ward. Brad and the interviewees, all NOLA residents, talked about the improvements being made in the past four years since Katrina. Then President Clinton came on to introduce the Make It Right panel. Clinton was at his wonkish best, reinforcing the theme that good environmentally-friendly projects are good for the economy. He talked a lot about all of the jobs being created in New Orleans because of the all of the projects CGI had helped finance and shepherd through.

When the panel finally came out, Brad ended up sitting next to Bubba. Brad didn’t shave, but he did look like he showered, so that’s a blessing. After Bubba‘s introductory speech, Brad was given the floor (sort of, they were all seated). Brad started out by thanking Bubba for creating “a forum where we can share our ideas… since the creation of CGI, $46 billion has been committed” to projects around the world. Brad asks for a round of applause for Bubba.

After the presidential ass-kissing, Brad describes his process in starting Make It Right, saying he got “no love” when first fundraising in 2005, and how he came to Bubba for advice. Brad says that Bubba basically told him “calm down, it’s a good idea, just stick with it.” Brad singles out Bill and Melinda Gates, and Steve Bing as big donors. Brad’s voice sounds shaky, nervous and emotional. He says Make It Right has exceeded his expectations. His goals for the homes were about affordability, aesthetics, sustainability, and resiliency. “We can no longer tell ourselves that this technology cannot be implemented in a larger way.” Brad also makes a plea for funding to take the Make It Right model and expanding it globally – “we want to take this out to a wider area… we are just scratching the surface.”

The next panelist was a woman who actually lives in one of the Make It Right NOLA homes – she actually lives in one of the first home, a “prototype” home. She was funny as she talked about skipping to the computer to pay her $50 electricity bill. She kept saying, “this is real, I’m not an actor” which made Bubba and Brad crack up, and Bubba actually touched Brad affectionately. Christ, Bubba probably tried to get Brad to go out with him to a strip club. This woman is so sweet as she talks about her “beautiful home… with all of these gadgets.” She described the “awesome” lighting system, the stove and the dual-mode toilet.

After that, Brad and his partners received a pretty award made of glass. It looked totally heavy. I had to look it up to see exactly what kind of award it was – Make It Right received a US Green Building Council award, the LEED plaque for the “biggest green neighborhood in the world.” Make It Right has built 13 LEED Platinum certified, storm-resistant homes and are planning another 150 more in the Lower 9th Ward.

This was a really great appearance by Brad, and he managed to both have star power amongst the wonks, while still giving due credit to all of his partners and all of the groups Make It Right NOLA works with. This was actually the most intelligent, passionate and interesting speech and interview I’ve ever heard from Brad – so what does that mean? Has he just been playing dumb all along? Or does he only shine when he gets to talk about environmental architecture?

Photo credit: WENN.com

Last week we covered a really hilarious parody Julia Stiles did in the name of fashion, the environment, and good-humored people everywhere. Julia launched her parody eco-clothing line on her parody site, “Julia Stiles Styles”. The fake fashion included: a shirt called “Save the Last Shants” (“Ever been wearing a shirt and thought ‘I sure wish I could also wear these as pants.’ Now you can with this trendy one-piece that can cover either your top or bottoms halves. Save time and money, for when your shirt is dirty you can wear it as pants! $470”) and “10 Shirts I love about you” (“How much do I love this shirt? Let me count the ways. Comprised from the fabrics of 10 other vintage shirts, this piece is sure to make passersby say “wow.” Perfect for pool parties, dance parties, or any kind of party. Be the envy of all those around you whose shirts come from only one source. $340”). To make the whole thing even better, when anyone tried to “buy” one of the fashions (I was tempted by the shants), you were directed to a donation page for the Lunchbox Fund, an organization that feeds impoverished school kids in South Africa.

It was all done in good fun, and Julia didn’t call out any particular “eco-celebrity”. But that hasn’t stopped self-proclaimed eco-celebrity Julia Roberts from getting mad, according to the Enquirer. According to a source, Roberts was mildly miffed, because Julia Roberts takes the whole environmental thing seriously now! Look, she buys flushable diapers and appears on the cover of Vanity Fair’s bloated “Green Issue”! Roberts thinks Stiles should get serious:

Julia Roberts – a famously eco-conscious mother of three who uses flushable diapers, drove a Toyota Prius and even helped invent a “green” household cleaner – isn’t laughing at her former Mona Lisa Smile’s co-star’s joke.

“While Julia thinks Julia Stiles’ heart is in the right place, she shouldn’t make fun of others who are trying to help the environment,” said the source.

“Julia thinks her former co-star would be better off directing her humor at people who are trying to destroy the planet… not those helping it!”

[From the National Enquirer, print edition, September 14 2009]

Eh… it’s like Julia Roberts didn’t get the joke. It wasn’t even like Stiles was only mocking the eco trend – she was mocking the faux-earnestness that so many celebrities bring to their cause du jour, as well as mocking fashion in general, specifically celebrity fashion lines. And if Julia Roberts was so miffed by the whole thing, why doesn’t she get off her high horse and make a parody video about SUVs or the oil industry or whatever?

Here’s Julia Roberts in Rome shooting ”Eat, Pray, Love” yesterday. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .

A friend of mine once told me he was in the “Zero Population Growth” movement, which believes that it’s our environmental duty not to have biological children. I’d never heard of that before he told me about it and thought that it wouldn’t deter me from having one or two children, but I didn’t tell him that and just said “mmhmm.” (He was married and it wasn’t like he was trying to tell me on a date that he wasn’t into having kids.) Later I took a sustainable living course and we had a unit on this issue. The chapters were essays by different environmental experts, and the consensus on children was that if you had one or two kids and raised them to be environmentally conscious you weren’t necessarily negatively affecting the environment.

The Duggar Family, with their soon-to-be 19 kids, are another matter. They have more children than handfuls of average families put together, and the environmental impact of all those children is something that many people consider to be a serious offense. E! Online has some more on the Duggar’s huge footprint, along with how much they’re likely to make for their TLC reality show per week – an estimated $25,000 to $75,000. E! kind of glosses over the environmental issue as it relates to the Duggar’s anti-science anti-evolution belief system. This is an argument I’ve heard before about the Duggars, though, and one that isn’t always presented nicely. Some say that statistically half of their 18 kids wouldn’t be living without the advances of modern science they seem to so readily dismiss:

How much do the Duggars get for their reality show? For me, the show is like an accident—you just have to look.
—Nicole_Tafoya, via Twitter

An “accident”? How cruel! Children are a gift from God! Right now, those 18 kids—soon to be 19—are blessing the planet with an estimated 1.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide as an environmental legacy! And just in case you need help with your science homework, every one of those little angels stands ready to explain how evolution is a lie. You’re just mean.

As for how much the Duggars are making off TLC network via their show, 18 Kids and Counting, well, hold on to your Bibles…

Networks usually won’t disclose the deals they make with individual families. But according to reality producer Terence Michael, the general rule of thumb is that reality-show families earn about 10 percent of a show’s per-episode budget. So, if TLC budgets about $250,000 to $400,000 per episode—and Michael suspects it does—that would mean $25,000 to $40,000 in the Duggars’ pockets for four or five days’ work, which is roughly how long it takes to film a typical episode.

If the 18 Kids and Counting show grows even more popular, the Duggars’ pay goes up as the show’s budget rises. The show budget for the Gosselins is reported to be much higher, with some reports estimating that those Plus Eight people rake in $75,000 per episode.

Bonus nugget: Does that mean that the Ace of Cakes dude makes the same kind of money? Not likely.

“If it’s thought that a show is going to bring in more money for the business it’s featuring, the producers get away with paying the star a lot less,” says Michael, currently producing a reality show about Motocross champ James Stewart Jr. and family. “More like 5 percent of the per-episode budget.”

For the record, the Duggars also make money from their commercial investments. But having your own orchestra made up entirely of your own children? Priceless.

[From E! Online]

While I was doing some minimal research for this story, I found an article on Newsweek about the Quiverfull movement that the Duggars follow, which teaches that children are a gift from God and that family planning should be left to Him. Having as many children as possible is viewed as a way to ensure entry into Heaven, with some pro-Quiverfull texts making it sound as if they’re preparing Christian child armies. One author is quoted as writing “Oh what a vision, to invade the earth with mighty sons and daughters who have been trained and prepared for God’s divine purposes.” The movement is said to be demeaning to women, who are left to care for ever-increasing numbers of children, typically under much more meager circumstances than the Duggars. The Duggar family is presenting a happy, financially secure face to Quiverfull, but the reality is much starker for other huge families that follow this philosophy. Are the Duggars irresponsibly populating the overextended earth or is it ok because they have the means to support their family? Some would argue that their environmental impact goes much beyond the 18 children they’ve brought into the world, since they’re making it look deceptively easy to raise huge families. In their case it’s been financially beneficial too.

Photos from TLC. Michelle Duggar is shown next to her also-pregnant daughter-in-law.

If you’ve been wondering what new mom Jessica Alba has been up to since giving birth – aside from glowering at paparazzi and posing on the red carpet – the actress has just completed an environmentally-conscious renovation of her L.A. home. Just was does such a renovation entail? Mostly recycled materials and non-toxic paint. Alba and her husband, Cash Warren, made an extra effort to keep things green for the sake of their daughter, five-month-old Honor, and their dogs.

For Jessica Alba, motherhood means eco-friendly living – and plenty of couch-jumping.

“It’s kid-friendly, animal-friendly,” the actress, 27, tells In Style magazine of the newly renovated L.A. canyon home she shares with husband Cash Warren and their 5-month-old daughter Honor Marie.

“You can jump on the sofas, walk around barefoot,” she says in the magazine’s November issue. “There’s nothing off-limits here.”

By using nontoxic paints and recycled furniture, the new parents – whose family also includes three dogs – pulled off an environmentally friendly renovation.

“The energy here is so inviting – it is open and playful,” says Alba. “And everywhere you look, inside and out, you get to see a part of nature.”

As for how Warren, 29, contributes to the new house, Alba says, “he’s pretty organized for a dude.”

[From People]

We’re in the middle of a renovation project on our new home, and I’m loving the non-toxic paints we chose. They’re a little more expensive than regular paint, but there are no fumes- a big deal for me, since I’m expecting. I can even have my kids help out with the painting without worry. If we had more of a budget, I would have opted for green building materials too – but those are big bucks. Anyway, it sounds like Jessica and her husband had a good time with this project, and it probably came out a lot better than her last movie – that Mike Meyers stinker, “Love Guru.” Maybe if her career doesn’t work out she can become an environmentally-friendly interior decorator.

Jessica Alba and Cash Warren are shown at a screening of Filth and Wisdom on 10/13/08. Credit: Bauergriffinonline