This year, Super Bowl XLVI (or 46, if you don’t do Roman numerals) is being hosted in Indianapolis, and the city, along with the NFL, is doing its part to make this the greenest Super Bowl ever. Here’s how:

1. Playing in an Environmentally-Friendly Stadium

Indianapolis has done a lot to make Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts, a green place to play. The building has a retractable roof, a CPI lighting system to utilize natural light, and “Big Ass” fans designed to move air with minimal energy consumption. Along with the Indiana Convention Center, the stadium recycles tens of tons of aluminum, plastic, glass and cardboard each year, and implemented recycling programs in other sports venues in the city. The stadium also purchases supplies in bulk, and its parking lots are swept, not sprayed, to conserve water.

2. Offering Green Options to Fans

The Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee has also participated in greening the Bowl. As part of the organization’s “1st and Green” plan, the city implemented “Project Plug-IN” along Georgia Street, the heart of Super Bowl Village. This project helped fund two charging stations for electric cars, which should be operational in early February. Hopefully this means that eco-friendly fans with electric cars can drive to the game and not have to worry about where to recharge their batteries.

3. Composting

Another “1st and Green” project in the works: a composting pilot program, set to take place during Super Bowl week. According to the website, “The JW Marriott hotel, which will house the Media Center for the 2012 Super Bowl, is partnering with GreenCycle, Republic Waste Services, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Recycling Coalition, and the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee to participate in a composting pilot project during the week of the Super Bowl. Food waste scraps from the JW Marriott kitchens will be collected in compostable bags and conveyed to the GreenCycle facility, where they will be mixed with wood chips and converted into nutritious compost instead of being sent to the landfill.”

4. Utilizing Renewable Energy

For the past 18 years, the NFL has been working to green the sport, and this year, it’s more eco-friendly than ever. The NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee have greened the power at the six major Super Bowl facilities. Their press release explains it all by saying “everything from the computers in the Motorola Super Bowl XLVI Media Center to the lights that shine down on the teams as they compete during Super Bowl will be powered by green energy.”

Green Mountain Energy Company is supplying the power, which will be generated by windfarms in North Dakota; this will save more than 14,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions normally associated with the Super Bowl and its festivities. According to NFL Environmental Program Director Jack Groh, “Green Mountain Energy Company has helped us reduce the overall environmental impact of Super Bowl activities. Together, we have been able to expand the way we address greenhouse gas emissions and leave a permanent benefit to the host community.”

5. Giving Back

Using renewable energy isn’t the only eco-friendly step the NFL has taken. Years ago, recycling bins were added to stadiums, and today, the league’s green efforts are much bigger. Leftover stadium food is donated to food banks (one Super Bowl generated more than 93,000 pounds of food). Supplies and equipment used in the big game are recovered and reused, a value Groh places at $250,000. And for the past seven years, the NFL has participated in urban forestry, planting 1,000 trees in each host city.

We can expect even more from next year’s Super Bowl. New Orleans will host the 2013 event, but the NFL made them work for the honor. For the first time ever, potential host cities had to submit an environmental plan with their bid. “The return on investment for us can be as much as 600 percent,” says Groh. That return doesn’t go to the NFL — it’s used to implement eco-friendly initiatives within the host community.

So, just why have green programs become so important to the NFL? ”We did it as part of our operations. Environmental principals are about greater efficiency and reduction of waste. How is that not a good business practice?” says Groh. And David Krichavsky, the NFL’s director of community affairs, adds, “We’re really doing this because we think it’s the right thing to do.”

The Super Bowl airs on Sunday, February 5, on NBC. Kickoff is as 6:30 EST.

HIT FROM: ECORAZZI.COM

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Instead of just going out to the club and have a reckless night like most stars do these days, Leo raised money for his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation by adding a fee to all drinks and bottles of Champagne. The foundation funds wildlife-protection projects and provides disaster relief and access to clean water in places like Haiti. An auction included a 15-liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot painted for the 11/11/11-themed bash by artist Peter Tunney, which went for $50,000. DJs Mark Ronson, Q-Tip and Jus Ske kept the crowd going, and Miike Snow also gave a performance of his hit “Animal.”

Hit From: The New York Post

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COSTUMES

You scoured your closets, your friends’ closets, local consignment shops and the Halloween costume shops to come up with a costume.  Now what?  Rather than toss it, hold on to it when you’re done.  You never know when you or a friend can use a witch hat or zombie mask.  Also, more communities across the country are organizing costume swaps that keep the cost and environmental impact of dressing up to a minimum.  You might be able to swap this year’s fairy princess get-up for a Cat Woman costume next year. Finally, consider donating your gently used costumes to a local school or theater group.  They can usually use extra costumes and props and have the storage space you might not.

CANDY

Let’s face it, trick-or-treaters don’t want anything but the really sugary, bad-for-you candy, so don’t bother wracking your brain for some kind of healthy alternative.  And don’t trick the poor kids, it’s just mean.  Except for Hershey Kiss wrappers, most candy wrappers are not recyclable through traditional methods.  But there is a solution!  TerraCycle is a recycling and upcycling company that specializes in hard-to-recycle materials, including candy wrappers.  Anyone can sign up for free at http://www.terracycle.net to send in their empties through the Candy Wrapper Brigade, sponsored by Mars.  You’ll earn points to be used for charity gifts or donations and TerraCycle will use the wrappers to make new products, like portable speakers, tote bags and watering cans.  I’d say that is a sweet deal!

DECORATIONS

You spent hours upping the creepy factor of your home for Halloween, so please don’t start from scratch next year.  Did the plastic gremlins get trampled by trick-or-treaters?  Perfect!  Did the cobwebs get full of branches and leaves?  Wonderful!  Halloween decorations are probably the only holiday items that look better a little beat up.  If you really don’t feel like saving the stuff, call around to nursing homes and assisted living facilities and see if they could use some extra decorations for next year.

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Bündchen, 31, went back to her home country to celebrate the launch of ‘Gisele and the Green Team’on Cartoon Network Brazil.In addition, the model attended an event at the Center of Forest Experiment of the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation, which aims to promote the conservation of biological and cultural diversity of the Atlantic Forest Biome.

She gathered with more than 80 children between the ages of 8 and 11 to help plant trees and educated the kids about the environment. This wasn’t just the regular planting of trees, but a symbolic act, as seeds were planted at the same place where more than 10 thousand trees will be planted throughout the year.

Bündchen reached out to show how kids can make a difference, along with educating them about nature. She also set the example of how kids can better the environment for future generations.

The partnership between Bündchen and Cartoon Network Brazil supports the Forests of the Future Project.

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The EMA pointed out that in addition to J.T.’s eco-friendly golf course in Tennessee he also does what he can to reduce his carbon footprint while on tour.

HIT FROM: Ecorazzi.com

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Four months later, the 33-year-old no longer is attached to the famous movie star, but is set to capture the hearts of Americans on her own as a contestant on the new season of “Dancing with the Stars”. And there’s perhaps no better way to make her an early favorite than with the release of those new PETA ads.

I decided to go nude because I think that nudity always creates a big reaction,” she told the animal rights org. “That is what is required to keep people’s attention on such a brutal practice …. These poor animals are electrocuted, skinned alive, drowned, and bludgeoned just for the sake of fashion.

HIT FROM: ECORAZZI.COM

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Here’s the trailer for the in-progress film (the duo is currently making their way out of Atlanta): Growing Cities

It’s amazing to consider all the in-between steps that separate the majority of first world populations from their sources of food. Perhaps the cycle of growers-distributors-sellers is a luxury that is no longer realistic or affordable for a large segment of the world. One easily forgets that food production is different from other facets of consumerism in that food is a product we can produce ourselves (given the right environment, etc.). This is in stark contrast to, say, an iPad. Modern-day society—even the current Apple-centric one—is predicated on the fact that we, as humans, can grow our own food instead of hunting for it… the tradeoff being that we’ve grown away from this skill set (no pun intended).

Hit From: Core77

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The first episode of the Climate Reality Project will be a live-streamed event called 24 Hours of Reality held on Sept. 14-15. According to a press release from the organization, “people all around the globe living with the impacts of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the man-made pollution that is changing our climate.”

The video feed will feature scientists, celebrities, executives and citizens from places like Tonga, Mexico City and Alaska, along with Mr. Gore. It will be broadcast over 24 hours in 24 time zones and in multiple languages, the group said.

The idea is to educate the public about the impacts of global warming and to counter what Mr. Gore considers the well-financed disinformation and denial campaign run by the fossil fuel industries.

“The climate crisis knows no political boundaries,” he said in a statement. “Ferocious storms and deadly heat waves are occurring with alarming frequency all over the world. We are living with the reality of the climate crisis every day. The only question is, how soon can we act?”

The project used to be known as the Alliance for Climate Protection but has received a new name and a somewhat new mission. It will have the same leader, Maggie L. Fox, a longtime Gore adviser and climate activist.

“Fossil fuel companies and their allies will go to great lengths to deny the fact that climate change is happening now,” Ms. Fox said. “But we have one powerful response: reality. We will dedicate our resources toward educating and engaging the public about the reality of the climate crisis and helping build the global movement for change.”

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