Right Environment to Party
After a long day campaigning to save Mother Earth on Sunday, some of Hollywood’s elite gathered at trendy restaurant du jour Maple Drive to become even more environmentally conscientious.
The occasion was an informal viewing party of the Time Warner-produced “Earth Day Special” that aired on ABC, and also a benefit for California’s Environmental Protection Initiative. Top tickets were $1,000. Cocktails and dinner preceded the TV-watching party, for which monitors had been set up around the restaurant.
Not everyone had spent the day doing environmentally correct things. Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Records, spent Earth Day at the Long Beach Grand Prix. But his new airline, debuting next month, is experimenting with recycling. On its London-L. A. run, said Branson, waste will be recycled. A tree will be planted for every passenger who flies, the duty-free bags will be biodegradable and the tickets will be issued on recycled paper.
“Obviously an airline is a polluter,” he said, “but you can’t do away with airlines, so you need to kind of address the balance a bit.”
Quincy Jones discussed the segment of the ABC special he worked on, in which well-known rappers rapped about toxic waste. “We had a standards and practices guy there,” he explained, “and the rappers went as far as they could.” Tony Bill, owner of Maple Drive and Venice’s 72 Market Street, said he had spent the day looking at antiques--also known as recycled furniture. “At 72 Market Street we’ve been feeding the homeless every week for years,” he said, “and both restaurants are really ecologically conscious, in terms of recycling, saving water or getting involved with events like this.”
Other guests included Norman and Lyn Lear, who explained that their new house will have such features as florescent lights and low-flush toilets; “Earth Day Special” executive producers Richard Baskin, Armyan Bernstein and Paul Witt; ABC entertainment president Bob Iger; Jane Fonda with Ted Turner; Tom Hayden; Judy and Michael Ovitz; Jayni and Chevy Chase; Amy Heckerling, Patricia and Mike Medavoy; Peter Guber; Bill Graham; Billy Crystal; Barry Diller; Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes; Rod Steiger; Alan Ladd Jr.; Ivan Reitman; Donna Mills; Joanna Kerns; C. Thomas Howell and Rae Dawn Chong; and Ed Begley Jr., wearing a T-shirt that read, “Recycle or Die.”
