Pamela Anderson was in town this weekend, promoting her new clothing line partnership, A*Muse, which is made entirely from animal friendly organic fabrics. Although Anderson is best known for her, um, assets, she has tirelessly promoted causes such as PETA for years, and certainly can't be faulted for her endorsement of causes near and dear to her, um, heart. She is but one example of celebrities who have made a definitive lifestyle choice, and who has generated awareness for a cause in a way that the cause could not do itself.
Edward Norton launched the BP Solar Neighbors Program in 2003 which matches each celebrity purchase of a solar energy home system with a solar installation in a low-income family home in Los Angeles, helping more and more people to go "off the grid". Brad Pitt is the co-creator of a design competition to build 20 affordable, energy reduced environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans.
Ed Begley Jr is another such celebrity. His reality show "Living with Ed" shows exactly how this Hollywood actor is able to live a carbon neutral life. If it's not organic, recycled, energy efficient or solar powered, you can't find it in their home, which is often to his wife's frustration. Now, Ed's commitment to this cause is, for most of us, way too hard-core to even imagine. He has to ride an exercise bike in the AM to generate enough power to make his breakfast toast. He has solar panels on the roof, electric cars, rides his bike in a tux to awards shows, and offsets his travel emissions by buying carbon credits on www.terrapass.com.
Only in Hollywood, you say? Or is it? Ottawa has its own website, www.ottawa.zerofootprint.net which is a community-wide initiative aimed at engaging citizens in the fight against climate changes. Within the website you can calculate your very own carbon footprint by answering some questions about your home and lifestyle habits. In less than 15 minutes you will have an accurate picture of how much carbon you emit and some of the ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint and save money at the same time. It will also allow you to compare your footprint to averages of other groups, cities or countries. Not everyone is going to go to the expense of installing a $30,000 solar panel system at their home, but there are lots of little things that we can all do to reduce our impact on the environment - many of which have government initiatives supporting them via tax credits.
www.Renewableplanet.com published a "Top 10" list of things that everyday people can do in order to reduce their impact on the environment, and lower energy bills in the process. Some of the examples of changes given were - using energy star appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs, only using rechargeable batteries, using a programmable thermostat and turning down the heat when away from the home, and installing low flow toilets and showerheads. These are all things that we can do, for marginal cost, every day in order to reduce our carbon footprint. And you know what they say about someone with a big carbon footprint?
Tracy Robillard
Sales Representative for the Paul Rushforth Team