Green is Good

Climate change is a big issue in every part of the world and those in the spotlight can be seen as leading the way for the rest of us. Thankfully they are using their fame for good rather than evil and the rich and famous realise the easiest way to make people sit up and take notice is not to preach at them, but to lead by example, and so the new wave of tree hugging celebrities have been dubbed ‘rock-star environmentalists’ but the media and the public.

But you don’t have to have been a rock-star to be a ‘rock-star environmentalist’ as the headline was recently applied to Al Gore as he arrived at the Oscars in a hybrid limousine. Green is good for celebrities which is why you will see them in their hybrid cars and limousines at every chance they get, not just at highly publicised event like the Oscars, but at any time when someone may be watching too.

Of course there are the celebrities who were green before it was cool, Bono for example whose method was the more unpopular of preaching to people about what they need to be doing. Or Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett who is now the Shadow Minister for Environment and Heritage, but who was also the President of the Australian Conservation Foundation back in 1989.

However, it can often be tough to swallow advice from celebrities about making greener choices in our everyday lives when we know they are throwing concerts which create tonnes of paper and unrecyclable waste, are getting around the world in carbon emitting jets, and being driven around in their expensive, plush, fuel guzzling limousines. This is why many celebrities have now realised it is better to lead by example, and that actions speak louder than words.

For example, country singer Willie Nelson has founded a biodiesel company, with the unfortunate name of BioWillie. Biodiesel made from vegetable oils or animal fats can run in any diesel vehicle and has lower emissions than regular diesel, so maybe the limo hire company operators need to be saving their cooking fats for their fleets to get their larger limos back on the red carpets.