On Sunday, evōx, (pronounced e-vokes), the new online marketplace and entertainment network geared toward sustainable lifestyles, hosted the premiere of “On Begley Street” at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA.
Produced by Make it Happen Productions, the show features one of the most prominent eco-celebs, Ed Begley Jr., and his family as they build a LEED Platinum home, with the specific goal of building the ‘most sustainable house in North America.’
As evidenced by the nine-minute clip shown at the event, the show will elegantly combine entertainment and environmental consciousness, as the Begley family tries to balance comfort and sustainable living.
While speaking at the event, Begley said that he hopes the show inspires other families to make environmentally conscious decisions for their homes, and noted that while most people do not have the budget to make their home LEED platinum, it is the small things that count.
“When I began acting in the '60s, I didn’t have a lot of money,” Begley said. “So I understand budget constraints. You can start with the low-hanging fruit.”
Examples of low-hanging fruit that homeowners can tackle include installing energy-efficient light-bulbs, turning off lights when you’re not in the room, and using water wisely. The best part about these simple suggestions is that it also saves the consumer money at the end of the day.
“On Begley Street” will also feature several of the actor’s famous, environmentally conscious colleagues, who were also in attendance at the event, including Shannon Elizabeth, Sharon Lawrence and everyone’s favorite science guy Bill Nye.
The CEO of evōx, Xavier Dubois, said that “On Begley Street” fit perfectly into the vision of the network, which is fairly new itself, having premiered on August 19th.
“evōx is a conduit for expression — a community, a hub, a place,” said Dubois. “The goal is to elevate people making a difference."
Located in San Francisco, evōx is combining the market trends of creating original web-based content, along the lines of Hulu and Netflix, with the emerging trend of being both for-profit and for-good.
The company is targeting the health and wellness consumer market with its original programing of reality tv, comedy and drama, as well as its online marketplace, which features a diverse range of eco-friendly products, from cleaning to pet supplies.
In fact, the event had booths manned by several innovative, mission-driven businesses, some of which are featured on evōx, including the grassroots organization, Green Wish, and solar-powered winery Tolosa.
Currently, evōx programming is available globally through its website and can be streamed using Roku. The company says its content can soon be viewed using other popular streaming devices, including Apple TV, Xbox and Samsung SmartTVs, as well as on both iOS and Android mobile devices.
In other sustainability media news, last week Chipotle released a 3-1/2-minute animated film called "The Scarecrow" that highlights the evils of factory food production. The clip is apparently the opening gambit in a new media offensive on this issue by Chipotle, including a series of four, TV-show-length Big Food-busting dark comedies called "Farmed and Dangerous" that will appear online soon.
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Published Sep 18, 2013 5pm EDT / 2pm PDT / 10pm BST / 11pm CEST