MNN - Mother Nature Network

Leading up to the MTV Movie Awards, several gift lounges drew stars, media and industry insiders with lots of freebies and the chance to support a variety of charities, with many of the vendors on hand offering eco-friendly products. Jennifer Love Hewitt and her "Client List" castmates Naturi Naughton and Rebecca Field visited the GBK Celebrity Luxury Gift Lounge, where RED, an African AIDS nonprofit, was the beneficiary. Sporting just-applied gold imPRESS press-on nails that she declared her favorite thing, Hewitt also snapped up Revitalash cosmetics, and a double-wrap bangle-like leather cuff from Ruby Roxanne. Having directed the June 17 first season finale of "Client List," guest-starring Betty White, Hewitt may direct a movie this summer before starting work on the series' second season in October.

 

Naughton, showing off newly acquired Plomo shoes, raved about the recent workshop she did in New York of the Tupac Skakur musical bio "Holler if You Hear Me." "It has all the soul and passion to go to Broadway and I hope to see it happen," she said. She hopes to travel with her boyfriend this summer and may get a new car. "I'm thinking about getting a Prius. I want to make sure I'm doing my part for this earth and have been thinking about ways to go green. I'm taking my own bags to the market," she noted. Field was glad to see that "there are a lot of eco-friendly things here," including the Sprout watch she got, made from sustainable cork.

 

Actor Kris Polaha, showing off his own Sprout watch, was excited about bringing home remote-controlled 007 cars for his three sons. "My kids go to Lawrence School where they have a garden and teach them to be eco-conscious. We can't use plastic baggies for their lunches," he said. Although his CW series "Ringer" was axed, he'll be seen this summer in later episodes of MTV's "Awkward," which premieres June 21, and will travel to see family in Florida and Lake Tahoe.

 

Other highlights at the GBK suite included Emys clothing, a line of tees, tanks, yoga pants and sweatshirts made from sustainable bamboo that donates 10 percent of proceeds to an endangered animal rescue charity (its founder is a turtle biologist), Cartography jewelry, fashioned from one-of-a-kind antique pieces its ex-roadie founder gathers at estate sales and flea markets (celeb fans include Ryan Gosling and Joe Manganiello), 3D home printers from Cubify, scarf-hoodie combos from Robdechi, Keratin Complex hair care, Kent Denim classic men's jeans, Halfbreed tees (halfbreedclothing.com) and handcrafted items from The Artisan Group (theartisangroup.org), including many accessories from repurposed materials.

 

At the Secret Room Events Red Carpet Luxury Lounge, the beneficiary was the Style Canine Cancer Foundation, which supports families who can't afford treatments for their pets. "Blind Side" star Quinton Aaron, whose next project is a movie called "Evolution of the Fallen," due to shoot in Bulgaria, was there to check out the wares, which featured a preponderance of skin care lines including paraben and fragrance free Zensation, natural soaps and cleansers from Sella, Beyond Clear's three-step cleaning system, organic and vegan skin care from The Orange Owl, and Pura bath salts, which donates a portion of proceeds to Save the Sea Turtle Foundation. You can get 20 percent off your online order through July 1 with the code 2012MTV.

 

Attendees also snagged Hawaiian Tropic's moisturizing Silk Hydration sunscreen (hawaiiantropic.com), Plum Organics baby food (plumorganics.com), Fatal Clothing tees (fatalclothing.com), and refreshingly guilt-free naturally flavored water from Hint — it contains no sugar, sweetener, preservative or calories.

 

Debbie Durkin's Rock N Rolla MTV Awards Eco Lounge had several charitable beneficiaries, including Music Saves Lives (musicsaveslives.org), Guard a Heart (guardaheart.org), Beat Liver Tumors, and Artist Population Live, which promotes music and arts programs in underfunded schools and will hold its first event in Dallas on June 9. Among the eco-friendly vendors were Svala lingerie (svalalingerie.com), made from organic cotton, bamboo and reclaimed lace, House of Minerva (houseofminerva.com), which sustainably repurposes dresses, pillows, sofas and fabric scraps into handmade clutches, totes, cosmetic bags and guitar straps, and Vine Street Market (www.vinestreetmarketusa.com), which makes chic tote bags in great patterns and fabrics. They're offering 50% off with the code vsm50.

 

We also liked the vintage-inspired tees from Dirtee Hollywood (dirteehollywood.com), Swyt Culture's new take on the ballet flat (swytculture.com) and the bead-and-lace jewelry from The Lace Project (thelaceproject.com), which the "Pretty Little Liars" cast will sport this season. You can get 40 percent off with the discount code JD058.

 

Entertainment at the event included spoken word performances from the With Our Words Youth Poetry Collective (withourwords.com), which had a green theme. We loved MiQuan James' poem "7/11," about reliance on foreign oil, the BP Gulf spill, and its aftermath. He's doing a video for it that ill be up on YouTube within a month.

 

Photo courtesy GBK

 

Check out our celeb section and watch Ecollywood videos.