Green Daily

Which celebrities have the most eco-fabulous homes? Is your freedom to dry clothes under attack? Do you have a "dog is my co-pilot" bumper sticker? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Top 7 Celebrity Eco-Cribs Johnny Depp's private island in the Caribbean took top honors in Treehugger's list of Fabulously Green Celebrity Homes. Lovingly named F*** Off Island, there's no doubt that this 35-acre, solar-hydrogen powered bungalow is fabulous, but the commute's gotta suck.

Radiohead Hawks Eco-Threads Next time you roll up to the merch booth at a Radiohead concert, you'll find more than just overpriced t-shirts with tour dates plastered all over. The eco-centric rockers are now offering raincoats and (gasp) unbranded t-shirts made of recycled plastic bottles.

The Right to Keep and Bear Clotheslines A bill protecting your right to clotheslines was shot down in North Carolina this week. The would-be law set out to ban the kinds of restrictive HOA covenants that prevent the unsightly outdoor drying of your fabulous threads. FYI, there is such thing as an indoor drying rack.

Pet-Only Airline Takes Off Two entrepreneurial pet lovers have crafted a brand new assault on the upper atmosphere: an all-pet airline. Not satisfied with the major airlines' pet accommodations? Now your pet can have its own carbon footprint! Pet Airways will fly between five major US cities.

Hitting the Trail Lightly Need a new pair o' running shoes? If you can stomach the McDonald's motif, Brooks has designed a pair of sustainable sneaks called the Green Silence. These eco-trainers boast recycled rubber soles, soy-based dyes, and laces made of recycled water bottles.

Green in a Flash:

• A brothel in Berlin is offering a biker discount.
• The first utility-scale hydrogen power plant is destined for New Mexico.
• Vancouver's über-sustainable Olympic village has hit a major funding snag.

What happens when the top-notch officers of Reno 911 get their hands on an electric car? Are you a die-hard Volt fan desperately seeking justice on the Late Show? Looking for ways to green your beer drinking this Memorial Day? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Reno 911 Goes Green In order to protect and serve you in a more ecologically sensitive manner, the always hilarious Reno Sheriff's department has unveiled its first all-electric, American made squad car. Shockingly, the hi-tech cruiser has some glitches (see video).

The Digital Music Revolution Continues In case you missed it, Wilco's latest album was leaked on Thursday, and the band responded by streaming the album from their website for free on Friday. Is the petrochemically derived CD a thing of the past? Is that a good thing?

Bob Lutz to Defend Volt's Honor on Letterman Two weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk trash talked the Volt on Letterman, the gracious host has agreed to let GM bigwig Bob Lutz come on to defend the highly anticipated plug-in hybird. Will the gloves come off? We'll find out Wednesday night.

Cardboard Taxidermy The art of mummifying dead animals is back in style, but if you want to enjoy the beauty of a head hanging on your wall without the guilt -- or fur -- check out Cardboard Safari. These recycled cardboard trophies are perfect for animal lovers.

Green Beer Refresher Course Though many of us have pondered our beer's carbon footprint while throwing back a few longnecks, we could all probably use a pre-Memorial Day green drinking recap. Lesson #1: local = green.

Green in a Flash:

• Al Gore is rallying the troops to get behind the climate bill.
• Honda will build natural gas Civics at its plant in Indiana.
• The US Air Force is using cattails to soak up industrial pollutants in our waterways.

I'm a huge Radiohead fan. I'm also a huge fan of walking and biking everywhere.

I assumed these two facts would correlate in some way, but turns out the French don't think so.

Radiohead reserved 50 free front-row tickets for fans that would be willing to bicycle to the Paris office of the band's record label, XL.

That's all they had to do. This in the country that kind-of invented the bicycle and presumably has a number of Radiohead fans.

Amazingly, French fans didn't jump at the chance. Instead, 35 free seats were left unclaimed right up front at a recent concert. While I have no idea why the plan failed (poor marketing maybe?), the site of an empty concert row must have been annoying for the eco-conscious rock band currently on tour in support of their In Rainbows release.

We've reported on a number of good-for-the-earth things the boys from Oxfordshire have been doing. Hopefully, this doesn't discourage the band from being innovate, especially in the trying-to-be-green area.

These musicians rock for the planet

Radiohead has been making several attempts to lower their carbon footprint including a performance on Conan O'Brien via satellite rather than taking the trip by air across the pond. So, it's no surprise that they are passing tips onto their fans. Their website now features a comprehensive carbon calculator that will help the most devotedly green fan get to a concert without a big carbon footprint.

Once you click on "Carbon Calculator," you are led to a list of future shows. Say you want to attend Lollapalooza on August 1st in Chicago but you live in NYC. What's the best way to travel? The total distance is about 712 miles and the calculator told me that such a trip by car would be roughly 590 kg of carbon dioxide (if traveling solo) whereas taking a bus is only 203 kg round trip. A plane ride fits somewhere in the middle and walking is completely carbon free!

[via: Sound Of Sirens]

In a follow up to Kyle's post about Radiohead telecommuting to perform on Late Night with Conan O'brien last week to limit their carbon emissions, I feel like we have to share the video with you of Thom Yorke's hilarious on air dedication to the top US executive. NBC was happy to have Radiohead participate in their "Green Week," especially since, consequently, Radiohead was the first band ever to perform on Conan back in '93. I wonder how much NBC appreciated Yorke's off-color comments.

After explaining why the band chose not to fly to the studio, Yorke dedicated their performance to "that tw*t who walked away from the Kyoto agreement." Not that we would expect any warm fuzzies from the highly vocal green activist -- but I have to admit that I didn't expect the parting shot at the lame duck President. Surely there have been more heroic times to Bush-bash -- as of late, he's even started to warm up to the environmentalist agenda.

[via Ecorazzi]

Radiohead is definitely a band known for their earth-friendly ways. But they're taking it to a new level these days. When most celebs would have demanded a private jet, the group is actually performing for a U.S. talk show via satellite from the U.K. in order to save them a flight across the Atlantic!

Back in January, Ellen gave you her picks for the top 5 greenest musicians. Now -- following Green Daily's lead as usual -- Billboard has released its nominations for the top 10 greenest musicians/bands. Do they match up? Well, yes and no -- billboard's standards are obviously lower. Who topped the list? None other than the king of eco-friendly beach rock himself -- Jack Johnson. Here's the full list:

1. Jack Johnson
   
2. Willie Nelson
   
3. Maná
   
4. Dave Matthews Band
   
5. KT Tunstall
6. Pearl Jam
7. Serj Tankian
8. Radiohead
9. Missy Higgins
10. The Roots

Radiohead's front man, Thom Yorke, has teamed up with environmentalist group Friends of the Earth to throw his support behind a call for the EU government to take a stronger stand against climate change. The Big Ask -- as it's being called -- is basically a campaign to push for drastic climate change legislation across continental Europe -- seeking a 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020 and a 50% reduction by 2050. The plan also calls for annual commitments on a national and EU level. In Thom's own words:

"We will never wake from the nightmare of climate change unless our national governments and the European Union act. They are the only ones who can put the structures in place that will help us tackle climate change."

Times are definitely changing, it's weird to hear rock stars protesting for more stringent laws. "While you're at it EU, let's tackle the problems of under-age drinking and music piracy," Thom added -- just kidding, he didn't say that.

Last year, the first Big Ask produced the UK's 'Climate Change Bill,' which is set to be introduced this summer. If it goes forward, the UK will be the first country to enact legally binding targets to reduce emissions. If all of this smacks of an Orwellian police state to you, there are other infinitely less-popular groups out there that are promoting a more voluntary approach to climate change.

[via Ecorazzi]

Radiohead recently released their new album "In Rainbows," in digital form only. Adding an extra twist, they made the download available for whatever price people were willing to pay, even zero.

So far, according to Hank Green at EcoGeek, the average price paid has been around $8, far more than the average band gets per traditional album sold. Even though you can download the album for free, obviously, they have many fans willing to pay.

Green sums it up perfectly, "More money for Radiohead, less money for us, and less physical crap existing in the world. That's good news for everyone, right? Oh...except the record companies....it's not good news for them."