Living the Green Life
In Hollywood, it's suddenly hip to be eco-friendly, but Emmy-nominated actor Ed Begley Jr. has been a devoted environmentalist since the 1970s.
My father had quite an influence on me-he'd been through the Depression, so he always had us turning off lights and saving tinfoil. He also encouraged me to become a Boy Scout, so I came to share his love of nature. Then, of course, there was the fact that I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s, when the smog was even worse than it is today. By 1970, with the first Earth Day as my catalyst, I was ready to do more to help the planet. I bought my first electric car, started recycling, and began using biodegradable detergents and soaps. And like my father, I passed down these ethics to my children. You've been living green for 37 years. How do you feel about the recent eco-friendly trend?
This is a wonderful time for the green movement. Every day there's new science about the challenges we're facing-global climate change, air pollution, the depletion of fish in the oceans, our dependence on oil-and it's exciting to see the press covering it. I think people are really starting to understand how their actions affect the health of the planet, and they want to make changes.
You're a successful Hollywood
actor, yet you live in a smaller-sized
ranch, you grow much of your own
food, and you travel by bike. Do
you have to make big sacrifices to
live this way?
I've been doing these things for
so long that I don't feel like I'm
sacrificing. But I think that's what
keeps a lot of people from changing
their lifestyles-the fear that
they'll have to give something up.
My wife, Rachelle, thinks our yard
looks like something out of The
Addams Family because of the big
reflective solar oven and the red
rain-catcher barrels I put in. Old
habits can be tough to break, too:
Rachelle will turn on the TV or the
curling iron and leave it on for an
hour while she's in another room.
To people like her, I say, don't focus
on things like switching to solar
energy or wind power. First do
what you can: Replace your lightbulbs
with more efficient ones or
turn off the TV when you leave the
room. These small steps can make
a big difference.
