Here’s a new “5 Friends / Don’t Vote” video featuring more of your favorite celebrities: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Justin Timberlake, Zach Braf, along with Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat etc. etc.

This is a second in a series of public service announcements, this video encourages American youth to vote in partnership with Google, YouTube, Declare Yourself, and MySpace. The non-partisan PSAs, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to vote and participate in the upcoming election.

takepart with maps.google.com/vote

About a month ago, I posted something about Greensburg, Kansas rebuilding into the model green community following tornadoes that destroyed the town.   Well, apparently I’m not the only person that’s heard about this.   Go figure.  

In fact, Leonardo DiCaprio, when taking a break from being Mr. Environmental Guy (actual nickname), is producing and hosting a 13-part series on the town for Planet Green, the new channel we’re all pretty pumped about.  

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Want to learn our top eco-kinky tips for ‘greening up’ your sex life? How about the top 10 ways to take action against AIDS?  Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie:

Annie Lennox & Top 10 Ways to Take Action Against AIDS

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: American Idol & Yip Harburg

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Nicole:

Top 10 Ways to ‘Green Up’ Your Sex Life

Top 10 Global Warming Myths Debunked

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Giulia:

Mortified Makes Movies

What a Bunch of Boobs

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Gina:

Top 10 Immigration Films

Boarding Gate’s Empty Adventure of Capitalism

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Say Hello to Our Guest Bloggers!

Jon Popham wrote:

Young At Heart Hits the Silver Screen

Death and the River

Andy Kondrat wrote:

Top 5 Things You’ll Love About Planet Green

Leonardo DiCaprio Does Everything For the Environment, Ever

Coming on the heels of our news that DVD release of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The 11^th Hour documentary (released yesterday!) was being made out of biodegradable materials, we bring you the information that DiCaprio has also purchased an eco-friendly apartment in Manhattan that’s built to be kind to the environment.

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It’s one thing to make a movie about the environment, but actor/producer/writer Leonardo DiCaprio has gone a step further with the DVD release of his film The 11th Hour:

Continuing his tight relationship with eco-organization Global Green USA, Leonardo DiCaprio is setting aside a portion of the profits from The 11th Hour DVD for the charity. The packaging ” as expected ” for the DVD will also be completely biodegradable (no wildflower seeds?) and produced with “100% certified renewable resources” . If you want to be even more eco-friendly, the movie will additionally be available via on-demand cable the same day it’s released to stores. [ecorazzi]

A biodegradable DVD? Woah, that’s pretty cool! Not to mention that you can pre-order the DVD for only 5 dollars!

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Our second installation of the TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is here give you the very best of Katie, Nicole, Giulia, Gina and Kerry! More blogs means more to love this Valentine’s Day week, and more social action means a healthier and happier world for everyone. Check out our most popular posts of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

5 Ways to Take Action and Get Action On Valentine’s Day

Top 10 Guilt-Free Valentine’s Day Jewelry Gifts: Show Your Valentine You Have a Heart

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Nicole:

Kiva: Microlending to Change Lives

Top 10 New Releases to Inspire Social Change

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Giulia:

Alicia Keys Uses Grammys to Help Keep a Child Alive

V-Day Celebrates Its 10 Year Anniversary!

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Gina:

Top 10 Movie Characters That Make A Difference

Art As Politics In “The Silence Before Bach”

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Kerry:

Tap Project Gets Donations Flowing For Safe Global Water

Levon Helms’ “Dirt Farmer” Wins Grammy Gold

Global Green will be hosting their 5th annual pre-Oscar party on February 20th to benefit their green rebuilding projects in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and to showcase a series of smart solutions for reducing our carbon footprint. Admission prices for this star-studded music extravaganza range anywhere from $250 for general admission to $5000 for the “green carpet” treatment for two. Global Green has already helped to rebuild 50,000 homes in New Orleans according to their green standards, which has had the equivalent effect of taking 100,000 cars off the road!

Their Green Schools initiative is a remarkable extension of their eco-friendly rebuilding efforts, aiming to create high performance and energy efficient schools in the area that will help student performance while saving school districts money on energy costs. Says Matt Peterson, President and CEO of Global Green USA of their Green Schools program:

“Across the U.S. in different cities, we have seen high performance schools create a better learning environment for students and reduce energy and water costs by 20% to 40%. Test scores improve by 20% to 22% in green schools, and can lead to fewer absences due to improved indoor air quality.”

and learn more about what you can do to help Global Green USA’s Green Schools initiative.

This Valentine’s day, as I promised readers last week, you don’t have to choose between buying your loved one a diamond necklace made by enslaved children, or a hemp necklace made under humane conditions (probably in Berkeley). And if you’ve seen Blood Diamond, whose trailer is above, or Gem Slaves, or Congo’s Curse, both made by IRIN, I have a feeling you’re not going to want to taint your valentine with blood-made jewelry. So here is a list of 10 great Valentine’s Day jewelry gifts that will let you glitter guilt-free. Make sure you come back tomorrow to check out my next top 10 Valentines Gifts with Heart list. For now, let’s talk about jewelry, starting with the most affordable and working our way up:

1. The Men’s Leather Cuff Bracelet from Global Exchange’s Fair Trade store is made sweat-free in Thailand and costs only $15 so you won’t have to sweat over the price of the gift or the circumstances under which it was made.
2. The Red Tie Necklace is made by the Tara cooperative in Deli, India and available at Ten Thousand Villages for only $16. Beautiful, unique, made of sparkling red glass beads, the red tie necklace will make your valentine want to tie the knot with you.

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In honor of Super Tuesday and the Top 10 Celebrities Advocating a Cause videos I posted yesterday watch below:

(did I mention how much I love Benicio Del Toro)

(This video is from the last election, but is still as relevant as it was 4 years ago)

So vote today and if you didn’t register this time around to make sure you’re ready next time.