MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

You’d better be green if you’re going to hang around with Spencer Grammer, who declares she’s “crazy” about water conservation. “I grew up in California where there’s always a drought, so you can’t have the faucet on,” says the Greek star. “When anybody comes over and they’re brushing their teeth, I’m like, ‘Turn off the faucet.’ You can’t leave the shower on to let it heat up. That’s unacceptable. I just get really upset. It causes a lot of arguments, actually, especially if I’m dating someone. It’s not a deal breaker, but it definitely becomes a source of anxiety.” On screen, Grammer deals with a different sort of romantic dilemma in the season finale of Greek, airing on ABC Family June 15 at 8 p.m. After taking the summer off, the college-set series will return for the third season on Aug. 31.

 

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“I walk a lot, never go shopping unless I have a reusable bag, and turn off lights,” says Kelly Choi, host of Bravo’s new cooking competition Top Chef Masters, noting that since seeing the Pacific Ocean debris featured in an Oprah episode, she’s sworn off plastic water bottles. The Seoul-born former model has solid foodie cred -- she hosts and produces the weekly restaurant review show Eat Out NY, has been a guest judge on Iron Chef America, and is the author of the forthcoming book The 20 Most Delicious Dishes in New York. Masters, which pits established chefs against one another tournament style, with the $10,000 weekly prize and $100,000 grand prize going to charity, premieres June 10 at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

 

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Public transit is an eco-friendly way to get around New York, but it has its hazards in The Taking of Pelham 123, a new take on the1974 Walter Matthau-Robert Shaw thriller opening June 12. As an MTA dispatcher, Denzel Washington finds himself in the middle of a tense hostage situation when hijackers led by John Travolta commandeer a train, demanding ransom. “I grew up in New York. I took the subway almost every day for many years,” says Washington. “If you can do it on the subway, I’ve seen it, from robbery to parenting,” he laughs. Great turns by the two stars aside, Sopranos fans will get a kick out of seeing James Gandolfini as the beleaguered Big Apple mayor.

 

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If you’re not a vegetarian or vegan, you might consider becoming one after seeing the new documentary Food, Inc., an eye-opening look at where what we eat really comes from and what it’s doing to us. As a voiceover tells us early on, the food industry “doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you’re eating because if you knew, you might not want to eat it.” But it’s not only meat that comes under the scrutiny of filmmaker Robert Kenner, who has plenty of fingers to point at the soybean and corn industries and producers of chemical additives and genetically modified ‘Frankenfoods.’ It’s a wake-up call, but it’s not all doom and gloom. The documentary spotlights eco-friendly farmers and others going against the corporate grain, and it offers suggestions that everyone can do to change things for the better. Food, Inc. opens in New York and Los Angeles June 12 and in the rest of the country throughout the summer.

 

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MNN’s resident Lazy Environmentalist, Josh Dorfman brings his green living advice to the Sundance Channel with the June 16, 9 p.m. premiere of the TV version of his eco-brand. In the opener, the Lazy Environmentalist helps a family reduce their waste and introduces a dog groomer to eco-friendly products.