Oscar Nominee Helen Hunt and H&M Walk the Red Carpet for Global Green

Everyone’s favorite mass-market fashion retailer, H&M, made news at the 85th Annual Academy Awards  last night with a dress designed exclusively for Best Actress Oscar nominee, Helen Hunt, in partnership with Global Green.

H&M has joined in partnership with Global Green, to launch a world-wide garment recycling program designed to reduce the 20 billion pounds of clothing that are disposed of each year in landfills and raise funds to help with Global Green initiatives.

Green Cross International and it’s American affiliate, Global Green USA, was founded  to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable future. What can one dress on the red carpet do for an initiative like the Global Green / H&M partnership? Let’s look at the social media results: “Helen Hunt H&M”, “Helen Hunt Oscars 2013”, and “Helen Hunt Global Green” returned over 100,000 Google search listings since she walked the red carpet at the Oscars in the last 24 hours, a clever marketing tool to promote H&M’s new used garment exchange program.

Beginning Thursday February 21st 2013, Global Green announced that H&M customers will be able to exchange used garments in return for a 15% discount coupon for a future purchase. “We believe this program will really make an impact in reducing the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills all over the world and we are excited that, at the same time, we will raise funds for Global Green USA to continue their great work.” says H&M spokesperson Marybeth Schmitt. According to Carbonrally.com, an estimated 1 in 10 clothing items gets bought, never worn, and thrown away.

To participate in the H&M Global Green Initiate, all you have to do is bring in any piece of clothing, from any brand, and in any condition to any of the 269 H&M stores in the US and in all 48 H&M markets worldwide.  In return, customers will receive a voucher for each bag of clothing donated and receive 15% off their next item purchased.

Actress and long-time Global Green supporter Sophia Bush said at the February 20th Global Green Pre-Oscar  party “To have H&M joining us in this fight, and helping to remind the world that chic and sustainable are in fact one-in-the-same, is such an exciting development!”. Global Green is supported by many in Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio and Edward Norton serve on the Global Green Board of Directors and Helen Hunt, Sophia Bush, Orlando Bloom, among others, were on the host committer for the 10th Annual Global Green Pre-Oscars Party.

When Helen Hunt declared that she was wearing H&M on the Red Carpet to E! Host Ryan Seacrest, he looked more than a little shocked and Hunt exclaimed “I’m not kidding!”. Hunt  explained that her strapless navy-blue gown was “green,” and she chose it “because it was the most beautiful dress I tried on and they partner with Global Green,” she said. “It was a win-win-win.” Seacrest asked if it was comfortable, as if something by H&M might not be, and she said “I’m not in my sweat pants but I do feel pretty good”. But couldn’t that be said for any Red Carpet gown?