Actress, surfer and passionate earth-lover Tanna Frederick knows there’s more to being a celebrity than the red carpet. The flame-haired star of Irene in Time, who once declared to her parents that she wanted to be a garbage collector to pick up other people’s trash, is using her platform to get her environmental messages out to the masses.

One project Tanna initiated, Project Save Our Surf, is turning heads and making waves (pun absolutely intended) amongst surfies and surf lovers alike.

The Project is held annually in Santa Monica, CA, with the full support of Tinseltown types such as Dennis Hopper, Brandon Boyd, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Garlin, Rosanna Arquette and others. Tanna says the event benefits Oceana, the international ocean conservation group in their work, which is specifically to “make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.”

Tanna spoke exclusively with The Green Dove about Project Save Our Surf and how every single person can help – in small and big ways – to ensure the planet’s future is clean and green.

THE GREEN DOVE: How did Project Save Our Surf come about?

TANNA FREDERICK: I called up World Champion Surfing God (I added the God part, but Im sure a lot of people would agree) Shaun Tomson and asked him to Co-host Project Save Our Surf with me. Amazingly enough, he said yes… From there on out, it was like a €˜green-come-true (thats a joke) because Shaun is so well respected in the surfing industry that all of our local surfers jumped on board as well as other world champion and pro surfers such as the legendary Peter €˜PT Townend, Rob Machado, James Pribram, Jon Rose, Jeremy Sherwin, and a ton of local businesses joined in on putting this together as well. Nancy Christiano from Oceana and I came on together to try and get Project SOS up and running, and it ended up soaring right out of our hands into something bigger than we ever realized it would be.

TGD: Have you always been passionate about the environment?

TF: Absolutely. As a kid growing up in Iowa, as early as second grade I started organizing fundraisers for the environment… I was a huge Greenpeace fanatic, and would get in debates with other kids in middle school about why Greenpeace tactics were better or less effective than Sierra Club (we were quite ahead of our time – maybe a little too much). We would go to or organize our own environmental demonstrations, or run t-shirt campaigns to save acres of rainforests or adopt seals or whales or all that wonderful stuff thats available to kids. I think my parents really instilled that love of nature in me because I was always camping with my parents for our vacations – wed travel all over and sleep out under the stars… My parents have an audio tape of me when I was four in which I declared, €˜I want to be a garbage-man when I grow up, and pick up all the trash that people throw on the ground. Either an actor or a garbage-man were in the stars for me…

TGD: What green efforts do you put into your every day life?

TF: Of course there are all the simple little things that we can all do – turn off water, turn off lights, recycle, walk or ride bikes instead of driving, be hyper-vigilant in the products we choose to use and their packaging so were not adding to toxins or excessive waste in our environment… Then theres the bigger tasks, like working to garner more support and more people and more donations for next years Project SOS. The little things are a big help too, but I feel at this point in terms of where our world is at, we all need to be a little more aggressive in our participation of saving the planet. We need to speak out, organize, and teach, and support those like Oceana who have an expert team and actually get things done to counteract the damage thats been done on this earth.

TGD: How specifically has acting given you platform for your passion projects, such as Save Our Surf?

TF: Quite honestly, its given me access to other actors who people will listen to… I might be a small indie actress and its if-y if people will listen to me, but I was able to ask some artists of rock-star status be a part of Project SOS: Dennis Hopper, Brandon Boyd, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Garlin, Rosanna Arquette, Judd Nelson, Greg Harrison, David Chokachi, Noah Wyle… I couldnt believe the number of renowned, brilliantly talented people who were willing and ready to step up to the plate and help save our oceans.

TGD: Do you have any eco-friendly tips for beach-goers?

TF: Oh, definitely. You have no idea how many nasty things Ive seen surfing in Santa Monica Bay. I stuffed so many Cheetos wrappers, plastic bags, water bottles, and pop cans – and worse unmentionables – into the sleeve of my suit in the last couple of years…Every weekend the beach takes such a beating by all the weekend beach goers, and its disgusting and sad. Put the trash in the trash cans. If someones turned the trash can over and its on its side and trash is all over the place, pick the trash can up, and put the trash back in it. And do it fast, before the trash gets into the ocean. Its not just the Citys responsibility to clean up, its ours. Theyre our beaches.

With the success of the recent WorldFest-a healthy living, vegan, music festival held annually in Los Angeles-The Green Dove spoke with Media and Marketing Director Bettina Rosmarino to get a recap on the festivities.

THE GREEN DOVE: How did WorldFest begin?
BETTINA ROSMARINO: In 2001, members of the current production team were involved in the first WorldFest. It started out of a desire to bring compassionate living to people in the form of a fun and relaxed music environment.

TGD: How has it grown?
BR: We’ve had 6,000 attendees in the past, but the 2009 festival was very successful and we hope to build on that to make it larger and even to roll WorldFest, in its current form, out to other cities.

TGD: Have you heard of any cases where non-vegetarian people have completely changed their lifestyle due to WorldFest?
BR: We have heard from previous festival goers that WorldFest had a big influence on their eating habits and that they changed them in one form or another.

TGD: For those who didn’t go what did they miss out on?
BR: People who couldn’t attend WorldFest missed a rousing speech from Capt Paul Watson, star of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars. They also missed some incredible food, just because it’s all vegan, does not mean it isn’t spectacular. And finally, they missed the adorable baby pig who was running around her pen at the Animal Acres tent. Too cute!

TGD: The biggest misconception you think people have about veganism?
BR: That it’s not tasty. In fact, I think that flavors of vegan food are much tastier and fresher and more palatable than the bland, colorless food that’s typical of SAD (Standard American Diet). Also, that vegans are inflexible bores. The environment of WorldFest puts that myth to shame.

From food vendors to eco-clothing retailers, get the lowdown on the latest green goodies that were on show at WorldFest 2009 here.

Bettina Rosmarino has been a tireless worker for animals and the environment for almost 20 years. While animal rights is her passion, she feels that it is inextricably linked with issues involving the environment and social justice and that work in any of these fields benefits them all. Bettina also has a passion for music and educational empowerment that has the power to inspire on an individual level.

By Cynthia Morgan

I glanced at the latest cover of Vogue with Cameron Diaz and next to her name was the headline “Queen of Green.” Heres what I dont get: how can a woman who goes on national talk shows telling us plebeians how to change our light bulbs to be more “green” not understand that by consuming meat (she is quoted as saying she “loves” hamburgers-they are her “weakness”) that she is contributing to the single greatest cause of environmental destruction on the planet?

Meat production-the number one industrial polluter. I mean, how can I, a nobody, know that and a woman who teams up with Al Gore for environmental initiatives not know this? Clearly shes done her homework, right? How does the Vogue-dubbed reigning Queen of Green feel about leaving a carbon footprint the size of Big Foot each time she walks out of a burger joint?

Forgive me Cameron Diaz, I am just trying to make sense of this. Im sure you are a lovely well-meaning person and maybe youre just feeling your way through becoming more conscious in the public eye. That cant be easy. Perhaps you really dont understand the extent to which you hinder the progress of your own environmental efforts each time you declare your love for hamburgers in the press to all those devoted fans following in your ecological footsteps. Youre not the only one.

Jennifer Aniston wants us to take five-minute showers; yet as a meat eater does she not know that one hamburger requires the water equivalent of 40 showers? She is adding to not only the biggest waste of water on earth by consuming meat but she’s also contributing to the greatest source of water pollution!

Sheryl Crow asks us to use one square of toilet paper per bathroom visit; yet she dines on steak-talk about a waste of natural resources. Julia Roberts is also “Green,” apparently she drives a bio-diesel car; yet I turn on the television and see her grilling hamburgers with George Clooney. And I ask myself, “Do they just not know?” Is that possible?

And Al Gore! Cmon. Seriously? The King of Green gave us The Inconvenient Truth, a documentary about a planet on the verge of self-destructing from global warming; yet as a carnivore, he partakes in the very act that creates more greenhouse gases than cars! I couldnt bear to see his movie. (And I still havent). I was certain there wouldnt be a whisper of whistle blowing on meat production as the PRIMARY cause of global warming due to de-forestation, gas emissions, land degradation and air pollution. What the heck, man?

How could this inclusive documentary be so shortsighted? He needs to make another one and get it right this time and call it The Really Inconvenient Truth: What I Didnt Want to Tell You Because I Would Have to Fundamentally Change and I Would Have an Up in Arms Meat Industry Breathing Down My Neck. I cant imagine its because these people are not educated in their cause of choice. So what is it? Is it fear that no one will see their movies if they really speak the truth? I get that. Im pretty sure at least one of my three blog readers wont be back. Or is it because its just a little too inconvenient for them to relinquish hot dogs?

“To consider yourself an environmentalist and still eat meat is like saying you’re a philanthropist who doesn’t give to charity.” Howard Lyman, former fourth-generation Montana cattle rancher and now vegan activist.

It isnt an easy choice to give up meat. Weve been hard-wired to believe we need it. And weve been duped by a meat industry heavily invested in programming us to remain under its spell. Its easy to recycle water bottles and forgo plastic bags. No one really needs plastic bags. That isnt that inconvenient.

This isnt about expecting everyone to be a vegan. My friends will vouch for my peep-less acceptance of their carnivorous ways. But if you are speaking from a celebrity platform of knowledge meant to enlighten us ignorant masses, then we expect you to know what youre talking about. We can handle the truth. What we (and the environment) dont need are half-truths and easy truths. Sure, driving eco-friendly cars and recycling are helpful, but they side step the hard choice. The far-reaching decision that challenges our lives from a very deep soul residing place and asks us to think way outside ourselves and rethink how we live on this planet.

When we do make that decision what we find is that the once derived “pleasure” of eating a hamburger dismally pales in comparison to the fulfillment of knowing we are making the single greatest impact a human being can have on the healing of the environment.

Not every celebrity activist can be Thom Yorke. Im coming to accept that. Thats my lesson. But I believe in time, well all catch up to him.

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” Albert Einstein.

A few facts worth chewing on:

1. 500,000 animals are slaughtered in the United States every HOUR for meat.
2. 100 acres of land produce enough beef for only 20 people, whereas those same 100 acres can produce enough wheat to feed 200 people.
3. 440 million tons of grain are fed to cattle each year, while 500 million people starve to death in poor countries.
4. One child dies of malnutrition every 2.3 seconds. If Americans reduced their meat consumption by 10%, one hundred million people could be fed using that freed up land.
5. Half of the worlds rainforests have been razed for cattle grazing for beef. Most of these rainforests are in poor countries, and the meat is exported to wealthy countries like the United States. Half of Central Americas rainforests have been deforested to provide the U.S. with meat.
6. 90% of the plant and animal species on earth live in the tropics, some of which have yet to be identified. Every day more of these species are brought to extinction as a result of Americans eating meat.
7. High levels of pesticides, tranquilizers and antibiotics commonly used in livestock enter your bloodstream when you consume meat. Of all the antibiotics used in the U.S., 55% are given to livestock.
8. It takes 14 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat but it takes 441 gallons to produce ONE pound of beef. (Some say that figure is way off and it takes 2,500 gallons!) If taxpayers did not subsidize these water costs, beef would cost $35.00 a pound.
9. 85% of the four million acres of topsoil lost each year is due to raising livestock. In order to make up for this loss, we destroy forests. Since 1967, the rate of deforestation in the United States has been one acre every five seconds. For each acre cleared in urbanization, seven are cleared for grazing or growing livestock feed.
10. Each time you replace a meat meal with a vegetarian one, you save at least 2.5 pounds of greenhouse gases.

To learn more check out www.chooseveg.com

About Cynthia Morgan

An accredited and sought-after Los Angeles-based board certified hypnotherapist, Cynthia Morgan is known as a spiritual teacher by her extensive clientele. Not only has Morgan improved the lives of her clients, but her unique philosophy that “we dont need to do anything to heal-rather we need to undo the thoughts that stand in the way of healing” applies to issues with weight, addictions, illness, pain, phobias, depression, and whatever else one deems as a “problem”. Her philosophy and techniques have proven to be highly successful, establishing her as true leader in her field.

Find out more at: www.cynthiamorgan.us
Read Cynthia’s blog here: www.cynthiamorganblog.blogspot.com

Forest and Keisha Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, Marisa Tomei, Sharon Stone, Noah Wyle, Alfre Woodard, Viola Davis, Laurence Fishburne and Quincy Jones lent their support, at an event in Beverly Hills, to 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to help launch “Mandela Day”.

The annual celebration of Nelson Mandelas life serves as a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better.

€˜Mandela Day, will also include a series of special events in New York City in 2009 involving many of the charitys global ambassadors from the worlds of entertainment, music and film.

Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years, beginning in 1942 when he started to campaign for the human rights of every South African. The annual celebration is being created to inspire others to embrace Nelson Mandelas values as they seek to improve their lives through service to their communities. 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation are calling on people around the world to support the creation of an official Mandela Day, to be held annually on July 18, Mr. Mandelas birthday.

Clockwise from top right: Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood and Forest Whitaker help launch “Mandela Day,” an annual celebration of Nelson Mandelas life that will serve as a global call to action for people to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better Forest Whitaker, Sonnet and Keisha Whitaker, Zelda LaGrange and Tim Massey Sharon Stone and Marissa Tomei Viola Davis Clint and Dina Eastwood (below left) Morgan Freeman, Noah Wyle and Dennis Haysbert Forest and Keisha Whitaker with daughter Sonnet Quincy Jones and Sharon Stone.
PHOTOS: Frank Micelotta/The Picture Group

WorldFest, a solar-powered, vegan, and sustainable music festival is set for May 16 in Los Angeles.

The event is expected to be celeb-central-especially for those interested in animal welfare, the planet, and a healthy lifestyle. Tippi Hedren, actress and founder of the Shambala Preserve, Kathy Freston, bestselling author of Quantum Wellness, Captain Paul Watson from Animal Planets Whale Wars will be guest speakers.

Other speakers and celebrity attendees include actress Linda Blair who runs animal rescue organization WorldHeart Foundation, child actress Saige Ryan Campbell, and health advocate Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Musical guests at WorldFest include The Chapin Sisters, Bonne Musique Zydeco, and others.

WorldFest is a much-anticipated by those who are active in the local community-and for those who would like to become more active. Fest organizers say they also welcome those who simply want to enjoy the music, food, sights, and sounds of the event.

“We have great exhibitors this year with some amazing food booths and the celebrities and bands are all energetic and fun to watch,” says WorldFests Exhibitor Coordinator Andrea Gullo.

More than just pretty accessories or a fashion fad, Energy Muse jewelry is a “lifestyle of wearable energies”, say its creators Heather Askinosie and Timmi Jandro.

Each handcrafted piece holds energy and intention to aid the wearer in manifesting a desired outcome. Heather and Timmi say people gravitate towards the gemstones they currently need to create and support balance within their own spiritual, mental and physical lives.

“Our mission is to educate and reconnect the world to the ancient wisdom and healing properties of crystals,” they explain. “Energy Muse is a conscious lifestyle brand providing tools of empowerment, inspiration and hope.”

In need of a change of fortune? Black tourmalinated quartz is thought to be a stone of great luck and wealth-a stone featured on the Energy Muse Luck bracelet (a Green Dove fave), pictured below left, which also holds an authentic Chinese coin-estimated to be 100 to 500 years old-an ancient and powerful manifesting tool for attracting not only luck but also wealth and limitless opportunity.

Celebrity devotees include David Beckham (Health), Heidi Klum (1st Chakra), Jeremy Piven (The Sun with coin), Britney Spears (High Priestess), Hillary Duff (Prosperity with peridot), Courtney Love (Divine Numbers #33) and many more.

Find the right energetic fit for you at www.energymuse.com