Who’s Who in Green: Brad Pitt

With the Make it Right Foundation celebrating its first anniversary this week, it’s a great time to celebrate the notable environmental and philanthropic efforts of Brad Pitt, the famous actor who’s much more than just a pretty face. Pitt is passionate about architecture – especially green architecture – and he puts that passion to admirable use in helping rebuild the city of New Orleans after the still-visible destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Pitt fell in love with the city of New Orleans while filming there, and became determined to help it bounce back from the devastating blow of Hurricane Katrina. He founded Make it Right NOLA to build 150 sustainable, eco-friendly homes in the Lower 9th Ward district of New Orleans, believing that it’s our responsibility when rebuilding communities to take the opportunity to build green. Make it Right has achieved a lot, and this week – just in time for the holiday season – six families will be moving into completed Make it Right green homes. Two more homes are under construction and another 14 will be built in early 2009.

“I’m really happy for the families that are going to be here, but I can’t help but think about the families that aren’t,” Pitt said Monday. “It’s a push-pull for me. The excitement is that it’s being proven, that it’s working. The frustration is that we have a long way to go.”

“You’re going to see 100 homes here, mark my words,” he said. “It’s nice to see a few, but I’m anxious to see 100, 150, 1,000.”

The homes feature enough solar panels to cut back the electricity bill by up to 75%. Pitt revealed to Larry King this week that every single Make it Right NOLA home meets platinum LEED certification, the highest rating a structure can get. That’s not too much of a surprise considering Cradle-to-Cradle architect William McDonough is one of Pitt’s partners in the project.

Pitt has also worked with Global Green to sponsor an architectural competition which aimed to generate ideas about how to rebuild sustainably. This competition actually spawned the Make it Right project, giving it the foundation it needed to create truly green homes for the 9th ward.

It’s easy to see how much of an impact Pitt’s work has had in the world of ‘green’. Just search for his name on Ecorazzi, the green celebrity gossip blog, and you’ll find that he’s contributed a lot over the years. Pitt worked with Kiehl’s to create the fair trade, organic Aloe Vera Biodegradable Body Cleanser, which benefits environmental charities (including Make it Right NOLA) and comes in a post-consumer recycled bottle. He also hosted a series about green design and architecture on PBS called ‘Design: e2’.

Brad Pitt and his partner, actress and activist Angelina Jolie, have also been extremely generous with their own personal fortunes in terms of giving to charity. Pitt recently donated $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign against gay marriage discrimination, and has been known to give substantial amounts of his income to various charities.

Yes, it’s true that Brad Pitt is a mega-celebrity who enjoys all of the finer things in life, including traveling on private jets. But he has also made outstanding and laudable contributions to the green revolution, and for that he’s earned a place among the green elite of the world.

Brad Pitt’s Green Score: 43,765

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