Living the Life of Luxury, Green Celebrity Style
June 30, 2010 | Filled Under Green Celebrities
Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to live an eco-friendly lifestyle and still enjoy life’s luxuries. These celebrities and famous people have all done so in numerous creative and easily attainable ways. While they are vocal about their environmental activism, these celebrities don’t just talk the talk – they walk the walk as well.
It is possible to drive stylish cars that are environmentally friendly at the same time. Just ask actor Leonardo diCaprio , who drives eco-friendly vehicles that are still luxurious. His most recent acquisition was a Tesla Roadster, the first ever high-performance electric car, which carries a price tag of about $150,000 USD. DiCaprio was also one of the first celebrities to drive the hybrid Toyota Prius, which can also be described as stylish and more affordable for the average person. Other Prius drivers include actress Cameron Diaz and actor/comedian Will Ferrell, who says, “I absolutely love our Prius. In addition to being obviously economical and environmentally friendly, they drive great and are just plain sexy. There’s no reason all Americans shouldn’t be driving hybrid cars.” Also on the hybrid bandwagon are actress Salma Hayek and actress Penelope Cruz.
While some celebrities demonstrate their greenness through driving hybrids or electric cars, others have favored the use of biodiesel fuel. Musician Willie Nelson has advocated alternative fuels for years, and was one of the earliest proponents of biodiesel. He helps to produce and distribute his own line of biodiesel today. Nelson also has been a strong advocate for farmers and cleaner air for decades.
Actor Matthew Modine is an environmental supporter who organized the “Bicycle for a Day” foundation, with the mission of promoting commuting by bicycle. His website notes facts that the average person loses 13 lbs the first year he or she begins commuting via bike, that three hours of cycling per week can reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke by half, and that the United States could save 462 million gallons of gasoline each year by increasing cycling from 1% to 1.5% of all their trips. All of these positive tips about bicycling are hoped to lead the average American to choose that method of transportation over gas-powered vehicles whenever possible.
Living green isn’t as hard or as depriving as it sounds. Once known as an actor on the hit television program “St. Elsewhere,” Ed Begley, Jr. is now better known from his HGTV show “LivingWith Ed,” where he shows viewers how easy it is to live an eco-friendly lifestyle without giving up some of life’s luxuries. His self-sufficient home is outfitted with things such as hemp shower curtains and wind-powered iPod chargers. Begley’s home is cleaned with eco-friendly products that he invented, called Begley’s Best – an all-natural, all-purpose cleaner that biodegrades in just one week. Not only did he demonstrate his own green home on his television show, he also visited other ecologically-conscious celebrities such as Jay Leno to show how they live green without feeling cheated out of luxuries they deserve. (Leno built a wind turbine on his sustainable, green garage).
Another celebrity leading an off-grid lifestyle is actress Daryl Hannah, who has her own organic farm in the Rocky Mountains. She also advocates buying organically grown local food from local organic farmers to support both the environment and local economies (and also to save some dough, as it’s usually cheaper to buy organic fruits and vegetables from farmers than it is from health food stores). In addition to championing organic foods, Hannah supports and encourages an eco-friendly lifestyle in numerous other ways. She helped found the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, has participated in sit-ins and protests and has also been arrested for trying to preserve our natural landscape.
Others who have green homes include actress Cate Blanchett, whose home in Sydney, Australia is outfitted with solar panels and reuses rainwater. Actress Julia Roberts is proud of her green home in Malibu, which she created after having children. She also turned to flushable diapers in lieu of using the environmentally detrimental disposable ones. Roberts is proud of the compost pile in her backyard, as is actress Gwyneth Paltrow. They both know that having a compost pile is an eco-friendly alternative to the harmful chemicals in traditional fertilizers and another way to reduce the amount of trash in landfills.
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com
Actor Robert Redford is a vocal environmentalist who strives to lead by example. He supports clean energy legislation, drives electric vehicles, and showcases documentary films about climate change and other environmental concerns through his Sundance Channel. He founded the Sundance Preserve more than 40 years ago (before living green was trendy) which led to the Sundance Festival, Sundance Channel, and Sundance Resort, all of which are dedicated to conserving energy and preserving the environment.
Today it may seem to be the popular thing for celebrities to proclaim themselves green activists. However, actor Woody Harrelson has been living an eco-friendly lifestyle for years, before it became chic among celebrities to do so. He lives in a sustainable community in Maui, one that runs totally on solar power and has no power lines. The organic farmers in the community run their tractors on bio-diesel fuel. Harrelson grows his own food in his backyard. Harrelson in the past started a website dedicated to sustainable living, organized bike tours in support of organic living, and worked to stop mountaintop destruction, among many other environmentally sensitive causes he’s supported.
Some celebrities have turned totally away from animal products. Actress Natalie Portman leads a lifestyle that eschews all animal products, including foods, clothing and beauty products. In addition to being vocal about her lifestyle, she started her own line of shoes, Te Cesan, constructed from 100% manmade materials. She has also traveled to Rwanda to help save silverback gorillas and discouraged the use of leather and fur.
As you can see, it is possible to lead a luxurious, fulfilled life and still be environmentally conscious. These celebrities demonstrate green living every day of their lives. Better yet, they don’t feel a sense of deprivation while doing so.
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Like the celebrities, we can also save our planet by using Terra Moto Transportation. We can use the vehicles like Toyota Prius’ and the Toyota Highlander, which operate a 100% hybrid fleet.