Brad Pitt: “Make It Right” Project

Brad Pitt, actor and now activist, is publicly using his influence and image to help the environment.  The older and wiser he gets, the more he wants to help. Brad Pitt announced that he was partnering with film producer Steve Bing to build “affordable and sustainable homes” in the Lower 9th Ward, an area of the city that Hurricane Katrina devastated in 2005.  They have each pledged $5 million to the rebuilding project. The 150 eco-friendly homes mark the first initiative of Pitt’s “Make it Right” Project, aimed at re-developing the Lower 9th Ward.

In 2004, Brad Pitt became a supporter of John Kerry, who takes the fight for the environment personally and slammed attempts by the republican party to sneak in a proposal attached to a defense bill, to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Then again, in 2007, members of the John Kerry community worked hard to support passage of an energy bill that contained the first real steps this country has taken to combat the climate crisis in years.

Pitt and close friend George Clooney are both putting in their time to help, along with the cast of oceans 13, who started “Not On Our Watch” that uses their fame to bring to the attention of the world, human rights violations from around the world.  Clooney drives eco-friendly also, owning a Tango electric car.

The beginning of the “Make It Right” project began in July 2006 when Brad Pitt got involved in Global Green USA, to promote the rebuilding of New Orleans.  The company, Global Green USA, after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina and the inadequate attention given by the government, made a commitment to rebuild, in a sustainable manner, New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast that was affected.  They began by constructing 5 single family homes, an 18 unit apartment building and a community center as a landmark sustainable development called the Holy Cross Project. 

Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Home 

If 50,000 homes were built with the same standards the as the Holy Cross Project, the residents of these new homes would save $38,000,000 to $56,000,000 dollars every year also reduce the carbon footprint of New Orleans, by Half a million tons of CO2, the equivalent to removing 100,000 cars from the road.

Through their green, affordable housing community, the Holy Cross Project, the “Make It Right” Project and their work on greening schools throughout the area, Global Green and Brad Pitt are committed to creating a green, sustainable and affordable model for development and rebuilding for New Orleans.