Why more celebrities should be saving the planet
As a up-and-coming blogger who earns enough coin at this game so that pretty soon my mom might be able to stop sending cheques, I know a thing or two about celebrity - in fact, by my calculations, if I write approximately 7000 more posts I'll be as famous as the dog who won't go through a screen door, or a lesser known LOLcat. That's why I'm uniquely qualified to consider the question of what kind of a job our current crop of glitterati are doing to save the planet, and how they can do better.
If you're a casual consumer of celebrity gossip, you might think that Hollywood was already the greenest place on the planet, with movie star Priuses carpooling in convoys through the streets of Beverly Hills to drop off their recycling. It's not just Ed Begley Jr. and his electric car anymore; A-listers like Brad and Leo are talking green architecture, buying green condos, and producing socially aware films like there's no tomorrow. Which there might not be.
However, for most of the rich and famous, conspicuous consumption remains the norm. For every celeb up on the roof installing solar panels, there are a couple of dozen for whom a giant carbon footprint remains a kind of status symbol. At Beyonce and Jay-Z's wedding earlier this month, the happy couple had some 100,000 orchids flown in from Thailand, probably not on a plane powered by used cooking oil. And then there's John Travolta, who owns 5 jets and a private runway, and still finds time to lecture his fans about fighting global warming.
Since these people are, God help us, our society's heroes and role models, we need more of them to come to the table and set some kind of green example.
How do we convince them? Well, for one thing, it's good press.
In recent years, stars with careers in a death spiral have relied on a tried and true formula to keep themselves in the public eye. The basic strategy involves a personal decline to match their professional collapse, with specific tactics ranging from simple public intoxication and semi-nudity to serious addiction issues and complete dementia. Traditionally, the process ends in several stints in rehab and a failed marriage.
So what if we pointed out that there's an easier, healthier way, to keep yourself featured on TMZ.com? What if, instead of getting photographed staggering out of an LA hot-spot, legless and pantyless, the paps came around to shoot you breaking ground at a new solar power facility?
The evidence is already in that it works - as we noted last week, Madonna, who made a career out of disco, sex, and blasphemy, has once again shifted gears and turned green cover girl. Al Gore, while not a Hollywood type per se, has enjoyed far more public acclaim as eco-guru and filmmaker than he ever did as Bill Clinton's wing-man. And as annoying as Bono is, people seem to like him, so he must be doing something right.
The beauty of the thing is there's something for even the least likely celebs. Paris Hilton could green up the hotel industry. Charlie Sheen could take a leaf from his dad's book and speak out against nuclear proliferation and testing. Gary Busey could... hmmm. Well, uh, nothing occurs to me off the top of my head but I'm sure there's something he could do.
Being a celebrity in our society is a pretty sweet gig. We throw fistfuls of money at actors, singers, and athletes and don't demand much in return except a little entertainment and the occasional public meltdown. Surely a few more of them could drop a little of that not-so-hard-earned cash and time in a good cause.
Does Humane Veal Exist?
Eco-Friendly Halloween Costumes
Ed Begley, Jr. Talks to GreenDaily About Going Green for Cheap
