What do Tobey Maguire, John Cusack, Kellie Pickler, and J.J. Abrams have in common? Birthdays this weekend!

A great way to celebrate would be to have an eco-friendly drink, like the ‘Dirty Eco-Tini,’ being offered this summer in NYC at Kimpton’s 70 Park Avenue Hotel and The Muse. Through July, celebrators at either hotel will be able to order the drink composed of organic vodka and olives, and the profits will be donated to The Trust for Public Land which preserves green spaces and playgrounds.

LD

In her latest single, "7 Things," Miley Cyrus lists the attributes that she hates in a boy. Not quite Alanis Morissette’s "You Oughta Know," but it’s the second departure in recent months from Cyrus’ squeaky-clean image (the first being the much-talked about topless photo).

Instead of writing an anger anthem to her ex, Cyrus could visit one of the many eco-salons sprouting up around the country to soothe her rage. At places like, Aveda, Naturopathica Spa, and Osmosis, Cyrus could lather on some non-toxic, biodegradable beauty products that are safe for the environment as well as her skin. Nothing says, "I’m over you, Nick Jonas" like a healthy, sexy glow.

LD

Beanstockd’s Angela, Sandra and Chris

Last weekend, Beanstockd rolled through Philadelphia’s second annual Popped! Music Festival, an outdoor community event bringing together indie music stars, local Philebrities and a dazzling array of superga-sporting hipsters, gurkee-flashing hippies, and crews from all Philadelphian walks of life.

Popped! is one of Philly’s biggest summer shows, and also one of the most prominent to keep sustainability on the mind. Using only recycled paper products and prompting concert-goers to recycle their plastics, Popped! worked to raise hands-on environmental awareness among all in attendance. Check out videos of these artists playing Popped! here.

Crystal Castles, hailing from Toronto, shocked and awed the crowd with New Wave synth beats, leopard-print tights, and ambiguously defined punk edge.

Gogol Bordello revved up the crowd and got us chanting Ukrainian profanities, while frontman Eugene Hutz downed a bottle of Merlot with the relish of a Mexican cage fighter.

Vampire Weekend transformed Drexel University campus into a one-night tropical hipster resort (read: sunburns, red-rimmed Raybans, and drunken rockabilly skanking) with their signature Afro-pop-meets-Upper-West-Side jams: the officially unofficial Sound of Summer.

Alexis Rosenzweig, the festival’s founder and organizer, took a moment to sit down with Beanstockd and recalled how far Popped! has come from its humble origins as an underground basement-concert tour (literally). Just one year later, Popped! is the musical phenomenon of Rosenzweig’s then-distant vision, certifying the city’s status as a burgeoning arts-and-culture hotspot, as well as leading green metropolis.

"Philadelphia is an emerging music scene [editor's note: even Rolling Stone agrees, see here and here] and Popped exposes that side of Philly," explained Rosenzweig, stressing that the event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the city, which connected with her green mission. In fact, Philadelphia was recently ranked 8th Most Sustainable City in the nation, and has even instated a city-wide "Go Green" public transportation initiative.

"I’ve gotten a lot of support from the city and the mayor," she enthused. "What really made this happen was timing and hard work."

Rosenzweig’s philosophy roots itself in one simple fact: "Being green needs to be something for the masses—not for the elite."

"We’re trying to make environmentalism accessible and affordable for everyone. It should be cheap to buy from your local grocer."

Finally, the young founder touched on the heart of Popped!’s ambition: "I hope that students can be more proactive, and that Popped! can be a model for music festivals everywhere."

If all festivals could be as dope as this one, then we’d give our vote.

We think we have it bad—trying to tan outside through the NorCal wildfire haze in uncharacteristically warm weather. The poor polar bears of the North Pole are likely to see an ice-free summer in 2008. But wait there’s more! The melting of the Arctic sea also causes inland permafrost to melt more rapidly meaning the land gets warmer as well. With all this new water-not-ice in the region, there is a new possibility of "geopolitical potentialities" as the Northwest Passage (a myth of the modern world) opens up. (Check out these interesting Sundance channel documentary footage for some compelling clips)

Know anyone still who’s not convinced? Please see "How to Convince a Skeptic" or wait a few years to check out the beachfront property that once was the Arctic Tundra.

Sharon

While we love that Marlene’s old wedding ring was recycled, her ex probably should have asked before giving it to his new wife. Instead of screwing over your significant other, try recycling jewelry another way. Green Earth Jewelry uses fair trade gemstones and recycled silver, standing up for land and water normally polluted and destroyed from mining. There’s no point in continuing mining when so much gold and silver is just sitting around in bank vaults and old jewelry boxes. And by pushing fair trade bling, we’re encouraging those developing nations to become our partners for a sustainable future. Miners in those countries can also take advantage of ecological gold initiatives that teach them new skills for a more ecologically sound job. Of course, we’ll ask them first. Always, always ask.

IK

Tim Gunn and the make-it-work must be bummed about Project Runway’s cross-coastal move to L.A. — especially because of  big car culture. The fabulous Heidi Klum spends a lot of time on the West Coast with her fam, but so does culture-climber Heidi Montag, whose new single (ew) "Fashion" shows that any bleach-toothed babe in L.A. will try to walk the walk. Sounds like Tim was looking forward to NYC’s car-free summer days, and probably the fashion passionate New Yorkers.

Mostly we’re going to miss that Bravo TV guy who does all the network voice-overs.  Can he go along for the ride? (virtually, of course, wouldn’t want another carbon footprint in the trade). At least we still have Season 5 (starting July 16th!!) on Bravo, with the voice guy, before the big change to Lifetime.

Sharon

The 2008 DNC party in Denver will look, feel and taste a little different this time around; and not because the look, feel and taste of Obama-rama is so damn refreshing. (The Stones on his ipod!) Also foremost on the dem’s agenda is showing the nation that we all need to add green into our red, white and blue.

The comprehensive greenover is entrusted to the convention’s first “Director of Greening,” Andrea Robinson, who is presently doing biodegradable balloon experiments before show time, August 25-28. The DNC site is encouraging all delegates to participate in carbon offsetting and is offering a "limited edition ‘green’ prize" to those who do.

There will be composting of the revised catering menu of mostly organic and local foods and reusing of water bottles. Bikes will provided for those who prefer an oil-free commute. The stage will be built of salvaged wood (from shipwrecked swiftboats?) and painted with eco-friendly paints. The swag is striving for domestically produced organic cotton and soy-based inks. The lights are energy-efficient, the cables- recycled, the sinks- retrofitted for conservation.

Never, since the glory days when democracy glamorized the political convention (circa: color tv), has the party in focus been green. Now when we cheer for a change we can believe in, the leadership will look much healthier. And that always has our vote.

Sharon

Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to her new baby last week. Poor Britney, even when her little sister has a baby 5 years younger than when Brit-Brit had her first, everyone’s got to write about how all little sis wants to do is not screw it up as much as her sibling has. Yo, pundits… she’s started pushing ‘em out at 17! Britney is already ahead. Sure, Jamie Lynn hasn’t lost custody yet, but it’s only been a few days. Give her a minute.

Sometimes, younger siblings do get it better [See: Wahlberg Brothers]. For example, take solar power. Solar tech is a whole family of technologies, and by competing to outproduce each other, one day, they might get the cost to produce power down below that of coal.

Don’t believe it? Hey, the LA County judges are giving Britney overnight time with her boys again. Anything can happen.

BradyDale

New York is living up to its name. Mayor Bloomberg is blocking cars from seven miles of the city for three Saturdays in August so that bikers and pedestrians can get through. This eco-friendly experiment has already been tried in other lanes around the world, including London, Paris, and Bogotá. (Incidentally, York almost took London’s place as the capital). Now Paris not only houses fashion, but bicyclists and beachers too. While New York might not be up to turning Park Avenue into a beach like Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë did with Pompidou Expressway by dumping 2,000 tons of sand on it, at least it’s moving to reduce pollution levels. You probably don’t want sand in your Jimmy Choos anyway.

IK

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson—when we were 16, we really wanted to be a smoker. Always more of a Soc, we tried to ease into it by chewing nicorette. We couldn’t stand the taste of nicorette, so we switched to nicotine patches. We eventually tried those really skinny cigs. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Like our feeble attempts to get hooked puffing Capris, Lindz is just trying to get hooked on vagine. When Paris indulged, we recommended Rosie O’Donnell. For Lindsay and Samantha we say: If you wanna keep your lesbian trysts hot: keep the shower off, don’t shave your pits and wear your Birkenstocks.

Bacon Bits