Today the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball announced selection of Live Earth founder Kevin Wall as executive producer of the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball. Live Earth was selected by the Organizing Committee to bring star-studded cachet to this year’s event, an intimate evening featuring musical performances by world-renowned artists to be announced shortly.

The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball celebrates the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and the expanding network of diverse organizations, companies, and individuals committed to advancing our clean economy to create shared prosperity for all.

“The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball Organizing Committee and I hand-picked Kevin Wall and the Live Earth team to executive produce this year’s event to ensure we deliver the best possible Green Ball befitting this historic occasion. It is my pleasure to be partnered with Live Earth again, as they are the experts in creating high-profile events that marry music star power with an important environmental message,” said the Honorable Al Gore.

Click here to download / print the full press release.

The Green Inaugural Ball brings together more than 75 environmental, labor, business, civil justice, and community organizations and sponsors to celebrate the strength and diversity of those committed to creating the new clean economy that will repower, rebuild, refuel and restore America. This sold-out event is hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery and will take place at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture on Monday, January 19th.

“Live Earth’s mission is to leverage the power of music and entertainment to focus the world’s attention on the most pressing environmental issues of our time and then actively affect change. I am deeply honored to be part of the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball celebrating renewable energy initiatives, the clean economy and protection of our natural heritage, and Live Earth will employ all of its expertise to deliver an amazing event worthy of this special celebration,” said Kevin Wall, Live Earth founder.

About the Green Inaugural Ball

The Green Inaugural Ball will begin at 7pm on January 19 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture to celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden. The Ball Host Committee includes over 75 organizations representing the breadth and depth of the community supporting and building the new clean economy, including environmentalists, labor, business, and civil justice groups. Learn more at www.greenball2009.org.

Washington, D.C. (January 9, 2009) – Today the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball announces selection of Kevin Wall, Live Earth founder responsible for the 2007 Concerts for a Climate in Crisis featuring 150 artists, 24-hours of music, across seven continents to raise awareness for the solutions and challenges of climate change, as executive producer of the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball. Experts in developing high-profile multi-artist entertainment events with an environmental message, Live Earth was selected by the Organizing Committee to bring star-studded cachet to this year’s event, an intimate evening featuring musical performances by world-renowned artists to be announced shortly. The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball celebrates the expanding network of diverse organizations, companies, and individuals committed to advancing our clean economy to create shared prosperity for all.

Click here to download / print the full press release.

“The 2009 Inaugural Green Ball Organizing Committee and I hand-picked Kevin Wall and the Live Earth team to executive produce this year’s event to ensure we deliver the best possible Green Ball befitting this historic occasion. It is my pleasure to be partnered with Live Earth again, as they are the experts in creating high-profile events that marry music star power with an important environmental message,” said the Honorable Al Gore.

The Green Inaugural Ball brings together more than 75 environmental, labor, business, civil justice, and community organizations and sponsors to celebrate the strength and diversity of those committed to creating the new clean economy that will repower, rebuild, refuel and restore America. This sold-out event is hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery and will take place at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture on Monday, January 19th.

“Live Earth’s mission is to leverage the power of music and entertainment to focus the world’s attention on the most pressing environmental issues of our time and then actively affect change. I am deeply honored to be part of the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball celebrating renewable energy initiatives, the clean economy and protection of our natural heritage, and Live Earth will employ all of its expertise to deliver an amazing event worthy of this special celebration,” said Kevin Wall, Live Earth founder.

About the Green Inaugural Ball

The Green Inaugural Ball will begin at 7pm on January 19 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture to celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden. The Ball Host Committee includes over 75 organizations representing the breadth and depth of the community supporting and building the new clean economy, including environmentalists, labor, business, and civil justice groups. Learn more at www.greenball2009.org.

About Live Earth

On July 7, 2007, Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis became the largest global entertainment event in history, with simultaneous concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Hamburg, and reaching an estimated audience of 2 billion people worldwide. As with the 07.07.07 first Live Earth event, with the Global Climate Crisis, Live Earth partners with former Vice President and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore and his organization, The Alliance for Climate Protection, whenever dealing with the Global Climate Crisis. Live Earth’s overall mission centers on leveraging the power of entertainment through integrated events, media, and experiences to ignite global movements aimed at solving the most critical environmental issues. www.liveearth.org.

Some of the things children can do to save the planet are to:

1. Pick up litter instead of throwing it on the floor/land. Cleaning after yourself and others around you is something everyone can do.
2. Protect Wildlife not giving animals’ human food and or not taking them away from their natural habitat, since we need them to make the environment a better place.
3. Turn of the water when you are not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog, washing your car, and taking shorter showers. Turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing.

Written and illustrated in a fun way, “Ways to Save the Earth” is a book for the whole family to enjoy and share important ideas. Did we mention is written in both English and Spanish? We all share this Earth, so let us take good care of it.

20 Easy Ways to Save the Earth is available at bookstores and at Amazon.com, where you can also pick up Live Earth’s Global Warming Survival Handbook.

More than 40 percent of all homes in the United States have gaming consoles and its estimated that half of these systems are on constantly, according to the National Resource Defense Council. If you have a console, or have friends and family that do, try to follow the steps below to reduce the energy consumed.

Turn off the console when not in use – An Xbox or a Playstation 3 left on 24/7 everyday uses as much energy as two fridges.

Buy a Wii – Amazingly, Wii uses about 1/9 of the energy a Xbox 360 uses when its being played. Check out the graph here to see how much money you can save.

Use the Power Saver Mode – Powering down and make a huge difference. To learn how to set up this feature on your console visit www.nrdc.org/energy/consoles/contents.asp.

Don’t Watch Movies on Your Game System – If you have a Blu-Ray movie opt to use it in a Blu-Ray Player. Planet Green says “watching a Blu-Ray movie on the Playstation 3 uses 5 times more power.”

Dispose of Mangled Systems Properly – Find a recycling center near you that can either reuse the parts, fix the item or dispose of the system properly.

Have Fun! - 3D video games were announced at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in and may be available within months, along with 3D-enabled TVs. Check back soon for a look at the best clean tech and eco-friendly gadgets introduced at CES 2009.

Zipcar
Zipcars first hit the road in 2000 and now, 9 years later, Zipcar is one of Inc.’s top 500 fastest growing companies. For those living in cities and small communities, car sharing is the way to go and for every Zipcar that is shared, 15-20 personally-owned vehicles are taken off the road. Zipcar currently has 5,000 cars in more than a dozen cities and 50 universities worldwide.

Connect
If Hertz has its way, Zipcar won’t dominate car-sharing program in the market for long. Hertz Connect lets costumers reserve a Toyota Prius hybrid or BMW Mini Cooper and drive it like they own it (with gas, roadside assistance and insurance included in the price).

Connect will first be available in New York City, London, and Paris, with 20 additional cities to follow. Hertz also added 3,400 hybrid cars to its worldwide rental fleet in the past year.

WeCar
Another car rental company who taken action and created a car rental program in 2008 is Enterprise. Enterprise’s WeCar, just like Zipcar and Connect, makes it easy to rent a car for errands or for weekend trips. If you’re just looking to rent, Enterprise recently doubled it’s fleet of hybrid vehicles to 10,000 and is moving forward with plans to open 80 “hybrid outlets.” Find a ‘green’ branch near you!

This year, Greener Gadgets and Core77 has partnered together to make known the top 50 entries on the web for commenting and voting. The winner will be showcased at the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City on February 27th.

Last year’s grand prize went to Matt Meshulam and Zach Dwiel who designed the EnerJar, a do-it-yourself device that measures the power draw from your appliances. For more of last year’s nominees check out: http://www.core77.com/competitions/GreenerGadgets/notables.asp

For more information on the Greener Gadgets Design Competition visit: http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/