Brad Pitt Tours His Green New Orleans Housing

The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans is a little greener, thanks to Brad Pitt. This week, he checked out the progress on the first building in what will be a sustainable, green -- and affordable -- housing complex.

Not only that, it's the first new housing to come to that particular neighborhood since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005, according to the Times-Picayune.

His partnership with Global Green USA won approval from city planners this spring, and it got a boost from Home Depot -- which is marketing green products in its stores with a special label -- a few weeks later when the home renovation retailing giant announced it would contribute upwards of $7 million to the project.

But the vision, a good deal of the money -- not to mention the reason for press attention -- is coming from the movie star, who is also building an off-the-grid home in California. Anyone who doubts celebrities can make a difference, can look at Pitt's very green example.

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