Cindy Crawford has had an Eco-Awakening. The supermodel will now be writing a Green Beat blog about the environment on Vanity Fair’s VF Daily website. The former host of MTV’s “House of Style” admits she’s “no Al Gore” but rather hopes to be viewed as your typical working mother with children, concerned about their wellbeing and the future of the world they will inhabit.

Indeed, Crawford tells her “eco-awakening” started as a direct result of her children who attend a very environmentally aware school and made a habit of giving their mother guilt trips over unsound environmental practices around the home. She started by making little changes, one step at a time, like unplugging electrical items like toasters, television sets and cell phone chargers when not in use. Then she made the switch to recycled paper products (sans toilet paper) for her home paper needs–and now she’s considering buying the recycled T.P. after all. Lastly she looked into water filtration systems for the home in order to switch from wasteful plastic bottled water to tap. She started using a PUR filtration system at home and is now working with the company to design a reusable aluminum bottle for a program called “Thirsty for Change”.

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IndieWIRE has a great interview up with the directors of Baghdad High. Ivan O’Mahoney and Laura Winter’s film follows the lives of high school students in Iraq - O’Mahoney and Winter actually gave students small digital cameras so they could document their lives - pretty cool!

The result is a film that shows how remarkably similar these teenagers’ lives are compared to those in the Western world. indieWIRE talked to both filmmakers about the film and their expectations for its North American Premiere at Tribeca.

What was the inspiration for “Baghdad High?”

We both had worked in Iraq and were looking to avoid yet another Iraq film told through the eyes of soldiers, religious leaders and warlords. The idea was that if you want to do something about the future of Iraq, you should talk to the future…i.e. go straight to its teenagers. Everyone can sympathize with the troubles and triumphs of being a teenager. It’s just that these teens happened to be growing into men in a war zone. [indieWIRE]

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In keeping up with all things Cannes - I’m actually pretty excited to announce that Fernando Meirelles’s new film Blindness is going to open the festival. Meirelles’s is known for City of God and The Constant Gardener - the former looking at at the politics of a specific place and the latter looking at larger socio-economic and cultural issues.

Opening Cannes on May 14, and playing in Competition, “Blindness” stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal in a thriller about a city succumbing to an epidemic of blindness. [Variety]

to learn how you can help the blind today - since were not in an epidemic at the moment - and go below the fold to see the trailers for Meirelles’s older films.

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Kimberly Peirce, director of Boys Don’t Cry and the recently released Stop-Loss is set to get the Andrew Sarris Award at Columbia University:

The nod, named for critic and film professor Andrew Sarris, honors service and artistic achievement of Columbia U. alums. Sarris award recipients are selected by the school’s film students.

Peirce said she’s happy to receive the kudo from “students who are in the same position I was in just a few years ago.”

Peirce graduated from Columbia U. School of the Arts’ film division in 1996. [Variety]

In the spirit of awesome women filmmakers, and learn more about Women Make Movies and go below the fold to see trailers for both of Peirce’s films..

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What can I say - I’m always a sucker for cute informative PSAs like this one from Omaha Healthy Kids:

to learn more about the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance!

Without being condescending or preachy, thegoodhuman.com is sharing simple ways for people to live a little greener in order to make their wallets a little heavier and the environment a little cleaner. The website, updated about once a day, is not over the top in its outrage, nor overly technical in its solutions. Instead, it is merely one man’s “idea for a website that can encourage people to be better humans..[.]whether through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues that mean a lot to you or just being more aware of your life and surroundings.

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The Tuskegee Experiment, which Reverend Jeremiah Wright brought into the national discourse, was a federally funded clinical study which tested the affects of syphilis on 399 poor, mostly illiterate black men. The experiment took place in Tuskegee, Alabama and lasted from 1932 to 1972. Only 65 years later, was the tragedy acknowledged, when President Bill Clinton apologized for the experiment. Those who enrolled in the study did not give informed consent and were not told that they had syphilis. These people were, in fact, denied medical treatment, even when penicillin became the drug of choice for syphilis in 1947. They were, however, promised free medical treatment, rides to the clinic, meals and burial insurance in case of death.

After the truth about Tuskegee came out in in 1972, Congress passed The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program that provides comprehensive lifetime medical and health benefits to the affected widows and offspring of study participants.

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Ben & Jerry’s celebrated its 30^th anniversary this year, and today they’re celebrating Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day! The socially-conscious ice cream maker is giving away ice cream for free! There’s no catch! Gina gave readers a heads up about today, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t remind readers the day of. And I also wanted to share the top 10 reasons you’ll want to get your scoop on.

If you like your ice cream eco-friendly and healthy

1. (Organic) Cookies and Cream: Organic Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Organic Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

2. (Organic) Chocolate Fudge Brownie: Organic Chocolate Ice Cream with Organic Fudge Brownies

If you’re worried about your waist line

3. Cherry Low Fat Frozen Yogurt: Cherry Low Fat Frozen Yogurt with Cherries & Fudge Flakes

4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Vanilla Light Ice Cream with Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

5. Raspberry Chocolate Chunk: Raspberry Light Ice Cream with a Raspberry Swirl & Fudge Flakes

If you’re into living dangerously and trying new things

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Three disastrous tornadoes ripped through the Norfolk, Virginia area yesterday afternoon. The twisters, which touched down between 4:30 and 5:00PM, are, at last count, responsible for at least 200 injuries and have caused massive destruction to houses, businesses and property in the region. Thankfully and remarkably no fatalities have been reported thus far as a result of the disaster.

You can watch video coverage of the tornadoes from the Weather Channel by clicking here—->:

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Jerry Seinfeld will perform at the Wamu Theatre in New York on June 2 for a show benefiting Stand Up For A Cure, a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating lung cancer. Tickets for the concert, which will be hosted by Alec Baldwin, cost $350 for general admission and are available through Ticketmaster.

Here’s a little does of Seinfeld brilliance for ya…

and check out Stand Up For A Cure  for show info and more ways to get involved in this great cause.