When he’s not starring in hit comedies like Pineapple Express or this September’s What’s Your Number? with Anna Faris, actor Ed Begley, Jr. lives the green life as Hollywood’s foremost environmental activist. HC caught up with Ed to talk about what collegiettes™ can do for the environment.
Her Campus: Tell us a bit about your commitment to environmentalism.
Ed Begley, Jr.: I got started in 1970 on the first Earth Day. The smog was horrible in LA, so I wanted to make a difference. I began recycling and composting, and I bought an electric car, which in those days was basically like a golf cart used by college campus cleaning crews. With the money I’ve saved by living green since then, I got a solar-electric system. I have solar panels on roof and check the panels every morning to see if I can go without grid power. Usually I can. I ride my bike daily in the mountains, eat food grown on site at my house, collect water through a rainwater tank system and recycle everything that I doesn’t compost or consume.
HC: Wow! How can a college student make their dorm room or apartment environmentally friendly?
EB: Number one: lighting. Energy efficient lighting is very cheap. You’ll save on your electric bill if you’re paying utilities, or if you’re in a dorm, your school will thank you for it. Second, watch your thermostat. Keep the temperature reasonably close to the outside temperature to be more energy efficient.
Try weather stripping [sealing gaps in doors and windows to make your heating and air conditioning more efficient].
HC: On your Planet Green reality show, Living with Ed, you and your wife Rachelle didn’t always see eye to eye on environmental issues. What advice do you have for green enthusiasts who are trying to convince their roommates, friends, or families to live in a greener way?
EB: Win them over, over time. You don’t run up Mt. Everest; you go to base camp and get acclimated. Move them slowly up the different altitudes of “greenness.” To motivate then, turn around and look at your utility bills! Living green often translates to saving money.
HC: And how can we be green outside of the dorm or apartment?
EB: Public transportation-take it! Or ride a bike. Also try home gardening and home compostingoutside your apartment, working in a school or community garden, and composting table scraps.
HC: Besides changing their living spaces and lifestyle, what else can students do to support the cause of conserving the environment?
EB: Find some good organizations to get involved with. Grassroots or local movements are wonderful. Get involved in river cleanup programs [near your campus]. Start local and get national. For example, Tree People and the National Resources Defense Council are good national groups.
HC: What does our generation need to work on to secure the future of the environment?
EB: Home activism is crucial, because it’s important to do your own part. But it’s equally important to get in touch with your local congressmen, senators, state legislators, city council, and government and make sure they know you want things to go differently. To decrease pollution, you need to work with government and corporations. Make sure that you reward companies who are doing good things for the environment, and write to those who aren’t, saying “I won’t buy products if you keep polluting.”
HC: Does writing to companies really make an impact?
EB: It’s a thousand-to-one lever when you send in an email or letter expressing your concern. If one person writes in, a corporation will assume that 1,000 consumers out there feel the same way, so they will listen.
HC: A lot of our readers grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy on TV. What’s it like being best friends with and living next to Bill Nye?
EB: We have our fun feud [of competing to be the most environmentally friendly], but it’s a good competition that’s raised the bar for both of us. He’s really upped my game to save water and energy. He’s a real scientist; I’m an advocate.
HC: Any final advice for collegiettes™?
EB: Yes. Live simply, so that others can simply live.
Her Campus co-founder Windsor with Ed at the Forward with Ford event in June