According to New York magazine, actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio is in the process of buying a unit at Riverhouse, an eco-friendly high rise in New York City. Although the price for Leo's unit is unknown, these units usually sell for between $800,000 to $4 million, depending on the size.
Riverhouse is truly an eco-friendly high rise (and I wouldn't expect anything less in a home purchase from the eco-friendly actor). The 264-unit building was built with only nonpollutant materials and uses solar-powered energy. Its eco features include programmable thermostats, which reduce energy use, around-the-clock filtered air, and a $1 million graywater and black-water treatment facility in the building's basement. The building is attempting to achieve LEED Platinum status, the highest rating through the US Green Building Council, and also features locally quarried bluestone, recovered barn wood. low- or no-VOC adhesives, paints and carpeting, and recycled, salvaged, and biodegradable materials.
The building also includes a children's playroom, an organic bakery, an indoor 50 foot-long lap pool, and an indoor children's Light House. Leo's rep confirmed the condo purchase, saying, “Riverhouse is a prime example of how green technology is both accessible and achievable for new residential developments — it is a groundbreaking building.”
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This :“Riverhouse is a prime example of how green technology is both accessible and achievable for new residential developments — it is a groundbreaking building.” is hysterical. Really it's achievable and accessible. How many people who aren't millionaire celebrities have access to achieve a 4 million dollar condo?
I figure I can heat my house by burning a pile of polar bears and plastic 70s furniture for several years before I've done anywhere near the damage to the planet that Leonardo Dicaprio and his other eco-pr buddies do with their private jet trips or gas-guzzing electricity sucking private movie set trailers.
It's not that I don't find there to be a need to live more sustainably, because I do. I'm just tired of hypocritical eco-celebrities trying to make me feel bad because I don't have a bathtub full of cash to just buy someone elses carbon credits rather than, you know actually cutting down on my footprint the way Gore and Leo do.
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