Green for more than a day

EXACTLY how Dave Stewart, co-founder of the ‘80s pop supergroup the Eurythmics, came to launch a new multimedia venture with the environmental crusaders of Greenpeace is a story of Information Age synergy. It is a story of rock star entrepreneurship, MySpace-era interconnectivity and the ecological crisis mind-set that has seized almost every segment of culture since the release of Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

But also, it’s the story of how Stewart’s birthday wish turned into an Earth Day offering -- a nonprofit Greenpeace “anthem” called “Go Green” that will become available for download on iTunes just in time for the observance of the global environmental appreciation holiday Sunday.

It all began in September, when Stewart -- a new-media Renaissance man and indemand songwriter-producer who has helped craft songs for No Doubt and Mick Jagger, among others -- invited Greenpeace to join the festivities for his 53rd birthday. Long an energetic campaigner for the organization, he devoted 100% of the proceeds from the Eurythmics’ 1999 Peace Tour to Greenpeace and Amnesty International, and over the years has played several live gigs on Greenpeace’s signature ship, the Rainbow Warrior. Further, in a neat twist of fate, the organization’s 35th anniversary fell in the same month as his birthday.

So the rocker decided to host several hundred of his famous friends (Anthony Hopkins, Dennis Hopper, raspy-voiced pop star Anastacia and Debi Mazar among them) at a joint birthday-anniversary blowout at Hollywood’s venerable S.I.R. recording studio. And many of them joined Stewart in a jam session recorded by a professional engineer that laid the sonic foundation for “Go Green”: a song with the sung-shouted chorus, “Go Green! Greenpeace!”

“It’s got that fist punching the air type of vibe,” explains Mark Warford, Greenpeace’s director of communications. “Candy Dulfer is on the sax. It was so much more than some boring charity song. We thought, ‘What are we going to do with this?’ ”

Stewart first set out to finish the song, enlisting Jamaican rapper Nadirah X as a co-writer and corralling his pop star pals into making musical contributions: Stewart’s Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox, Bonnie Raitt, folk singer Sarah McLachlan, British trip-hop chanteuse Imogen Heap, Aussie pop star Natalie Imbruglia and guitar hero Jeff Beck volunteered.

Then came the eureka moment: The rocker realized his multimedia company, Weapons of Mass Entertainment, could provide higher visibility for Greenpeace (perhaps best known for its creatively antagonistic protests in the ‘70s and ‘80s of activities such as seal hunting, nuclear weapons testing and whaling). In February, he invited the organization’s media arm, Greenpeace Works, to move into Weapons’ Hollywood offices and partner in an Andy Warhol-style “think tank” that will attempt to commodify celebrity along with eco-friendliness as never before.

THE aim, Stewart explains in his Weapons office, is to effect change but also to do well financially. “It’s bloody exciting and celebratory to do good things for the environment. It’s sexy and I want to make it sexy,” says Stewart, wearing Chanel wraparound sunglasses. “I don’t want it to be a granola-cruncher, tree-hugger type of thing.”

“We’re working on a business that would help people socially, politically, consciously,” he excitedly adds. “But when I say ‘business,’ I’m talking about a money-making business.”

Which, as Warford explains it, is what will distinguish Greenpeace Works from a similar effort in the ‘80s, the group’s ill-fated Greenpeace Records label.

“We had great tracks with R.E.M, U2 and the Eurythmics, recorded with solar energy,” he says. “The reason it failed: We didn’t get them to work with any long-term vision. We’d have a press conference, have them stump for us, then go their separate way. My plan with Greenpeace Works is to solidify it in a business sense.”

Toward that end, Greenpeace Works will function as an independent record label, courting both established and new artists (who will share 50% of the profit with the imprint).

“But it’s not just a home for protest songs,” Warford says. “It’s about people who are committed to social issues but also being artistic and getting the word out without any restrictions.”

As well, Weapons of Mass Entertainment and Greenpeace Works will launch several online ventures in the coming months but for now Stewart prefers to keep them hush-hush. He allows, however, that the companies are in discussions with a global cellphone maker about enabling wireless access to Greenpeace’s voluminous archival database and offering daily environmental updates as well as electronic interface with “user-generated mobile content.”

“With new media, you can infiltrate by being technologically savvy and plant new ideas,” Stewart says. “A cellphone in your hand -- it’s a great way of capturing someone’s attention and making it personal.”

While he has nothing particularly “green” planned for Earth Day, on May 4 Stewart will debut a live performance of “Go Green” in a country reputed to be among the worst polluters in the world.

“I’m gonna launch this song live in China in front of 100,000 people,” Stewart exclaims. Scheduled as the closing act for the Midi Festival, China’s answer to Coachella, he will perform “Go Green” along with Nadirah X and Chinese pop stars. “It’s a helluva thing!”

chris.lee@latimes.com

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Earth Day for dedicated greenies and dabblers

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Selected activities on Saturday and Sunday:

CLEAN UP

Various locations The California State Parks Foundation is sponsoring its 10th annual Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup. Volunteers can restore trails and wildlife habitats, remove trash, plant trees and gardens and do other work at 41 state and community parks. Saturday. www.calparks.org, (888) 987-2757.

Burbank Learn about recycling, composting, water and energy conservation, and participate in a canyon cleanup. Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 Walnut Ave. 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. (888) 295-8372.

Dana Point A beach cleanup, plus live music and crafts. Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. $4 to $6; 2 and younger, free. (949) 496-2274.

Redondo Beach Earth-friendly activities include a beach cleanup, sand-sculpture contest and compost workshops, plus entertainment. The SEA Lab, 1021 N. Harbor Drive. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. (310) 318-7458.

San Pedro A tide-pool cleanup, plus music, lectures and kids’ activities. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen White Drive. 8 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Free. (310) 548-7562.

BE AWARE

(AND ENTERTAINED)

Baldwin Hills A focus on raising awareness for children’s health, environmental sustainability and water-quality protection. Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Free. (323) 290-6636.

Culver City Kids’ celebration includes games, crafts, exotic animals, food and live entertainment. Star Eco Station, 10101 W. Jefferson Blvd. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. $6 to $8. (310) 842-8060.

Los Angeles Experts explain the science on global warming. California Science Center, Exposition Park, 700 State Drive. 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Free, reservations required. Register at californiasciencecenter.org, (323) SCIENCE.

Los Angeles Arts organization Create:Fixate explores eco-friendly life with its latest art-music event. 1535 Ivar Ave. 4 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday. $5 to $15; children free before 7 p.m. www.createfixate.com, (310) 590-7199.

Los Angeles Learn about conservation through workshops, games and video clips at the Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Griffith Park. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $5 to $10; 1 and younger, free. (323) 644-4200.

Manhattan Beach Shopping, music, kids’ activities and a display of alternative-fuel vehicles. Polliwog Park, 1600 Manhattan Beach Blvd. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. (888) 295-8372.

Newport Beach Get your groove on at the Earth Day Blue Water Music Festival. Newport Dunes Resort, 1131 Back Bay Drive. 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $50 to $100. www.helpbluewater.com, (949) 281-6850.

San Bernardino A family-oriented environmental education fair. Coussoulis Arena, 5500 University Parkway. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Free. (909) 880-7360.

Studio City The Eco-LA Gallery opens “Off the Wall 3,” works painted on recycled billboards. 4829 S. Pico Blvd. 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Free. www.eco-logicalart.org, (310) 525-0676.

Studio City Environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. will speak. Studio City Branch Library, 12511 Moorpark St. 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Free. (818) 755-7873.

Topanga Canyon Music, art and environmental booths. Topanga Community House, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon. 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $10. (888) 295-8372.

WATCH AT HOME

Animal Planet presents “A Year on Earth,” a Daytime Emmy-nominated documentary about three teens’ mission “to take the pulse of the planet and report back to their generation,” 6 p.m. Sunday.

Discovery Channel offers the documentary “Green: The New Red, White and Blue,” 9 p.m. Saturday, and a marathon of the series “Planet Earth,” 9 a.m. to midnight Sunday.

Sundance Channel shows its new series “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” 3 p.m. Sunday.