Brad Pitt's green dream

Brad Pitt may share a home with movie star Angelina Jolie, but he is also helping to build eco-homes for victims whose lives and homes collapsed after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August 2005.

Brad Pitt has pledged millions from his own pocket for a green project, called Make It Right, which aims to build 150 eco-homes on land where 5,000 homes stood before the Hurricane Katrina hit.

Pitt is appealing for people to contribute to the cause by donating products, or funds, to help build sustainable and affordable housing for the Lower 9th Ward community.

“We’ll start with 150 homes,” Pitt told the US NBC Today Show.

“We're going to help to make it right with 150 sustainable, affordable houses – houses that stand out for their design both aesthetically and structurally, so that these people can live in beautiful safe structures that respect their spirit and provide a good quality of life.

“This is really an adopt-a-house campaign. I’m asking for foundations, for high net-worth individuals to come in and adopt a house.”

But you don’t have to be a millionaire to help Pitt and the people of New Orleans; you could buy anything that will help with the project.

“You can adopt a low flush toilet, a solar pane, these are all sustainable,” Pitt said.

The heartthrob said he had bought his dad an environmentally friendly water heater and has appealed for Americans to step up and do the same.

“I’m really hoping that folks’ll come to the website www.makeitrightnola.org. We’re going to see this through,” he said.

The four main guiding principles for the housing designs are; safety, affordability, sustainability and high design quality, to serve as a model for future rebuilding.

Pitt became a part-time resident of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After seeing the devastation and meeting with the hardest-hit residents, he began the Make It Right project.

The project, which began with an architectural competition, sought to bring opportunity out of the devastation of Katrina. Make It Right is taking this project a step further by committing to a community of safe, sustainable homes that incorporate the spirit and culture of the Lower 9th Ward and encourage it to flourish.

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