‘Gorgeous & Green’ Benefit Event Raises $350,000
San Francisco was the site of a carbon-neutral benefit event last week:
the 3rd annual fundraiser for the local branch of Global Green, the American branch of Green Cross International, founded by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. The benefit netted $350,000.
Guests gathered for cocktails and a fashion show at $250 a ticket (patrons paid $5,000 each for a private dinner and auction beforehand) to raise money to help the green rebuilding of New Orleans, among other projects. About $350,000 was raised, organizers said. The nonprofit works to develop initiatives to reduce energy and water consumption, rid the planet of chemical weapons and halt global climate change.
Sounds like it was a fab event, with celebrity attendance (Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Josie Maran, “Sex and the City” actor Jason Lewis, Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins and “Whale Rider” actress Q’Orianka Kilcher), Fashion (mostly of the eco and green kind), an auction plus a high-caliber dinner courtesy of Michelin two-star chef Joseph Humphrey.
But the evening was about raising money for Global Green’s cause. Chief among these:
- Global Green is working with Brad Pitt and the Home Depot Foundation to build the first zero-energy house as part of its Holy Cross Project in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.
- The Green Schools Initiative in California, which aims to provide students and teachers with healthier learning environments and to reduce costs.
And the event continued a trend that we’re (thankfully) seeing alot of these days: carbon offsets.
Organizers also contracted with Climate Clean, a carbon offset company, to purchase credits for six greenhouse gases to ensure that the event was carbon-negative. Credits are investments in renewable energy such as solar and wind power, and investments in technologies that capture methane gas emitted from landfills, which pollutes the air.
Great quote from event co-chair Nadine Weil, a consultant called upon to carbon-neutralize last summer’s MLB All-Star game:
“We hear so much doom and gloom these days that the message that going green and being green can be glamorous and fun is a really welcome message,” Weil said. “Green has to become the way we do things. If we’re pessimists we give up and say the planet - and we as a species - we’re not going to make it. We have to be optimistic. We have no choice.”
