Celebrities take lead in going green

Reduce, reuse, recycle, conserve. In words and deeds, America's A-list celebrities are lending their voice and their actions to sorting out the controversy and confusion about global warming and demonstrating how to live eco-friendly.

Heading that list is Leonardo DiCaprio. Ten years after stealing hearts in the Academy Award winning film "Titanic," he has become more than an acclaimed actor. He's a committed environmentalist who practices what he preaches.

DiCaprio is getting out the message about living green through films, such as "The 11th Hour," which he co-wrote and co-produced, his environmental Web site (www.leonardodicaprio.org), the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, and the way he lives.

DiCaprio's home is solar powered and he drives around Hollywood in a Toyota Prius, a hybrid car that boasts 55 mpg and emits 89 percent fewer harmful gases than gasoline-powered car.

"We have the technology to make every car produced in America today just as clean, cheap and efficient," DiCaprio said in an interview for Hybridcars.com

Sheryl Crow's name has also become synonymous with green efforts. Earlier this year, the soulful singer circled the country on a biodiesel bus, powered with vegetable oil, for her "Stop Global Warming College Tour."

Visiting university campuses nationwide to inform students of global warming dangers, Crow tried to influence millions of youths to march on Capitol Hill and change environmental laws.

But more than simply a lobbyist for the environmental cause, Crow recognizes her own personal role in pollution prevention and energy conservation.

"I try to wash my clothes in cold water as much as I can," Crow said in an interview with People magazine. "I turn off lights in rooms that I'm not using. I drive a hybrid. I'm getting solar panels for my house."

Crow is a leading example of how the use of stardom can influence millions of people to care for a cause that improves society.

Daryl Hannah, who made a big "Splash" in the 1984 film co-starring Tom Hanks, is also making waves in the environmental movement. Hannah's current project is DH Love Life, a Web site and weekly blog dedicated to promoting tips and awareness about energy and environmental awareness. In 2004 and 2006, Hannah won several environmental awards, including the "Environmental Activism Award."

At home, the actress drives a biodiesel El Camino, powered by vegetable oil (which she jokingly says reeks of French fries), and her home is equipped with solar paneling. In June of last year, Hannah tied herself to a tree in Los Angeles and was eventually arrested for protesting the eviction of more than 350 local farmers and their families. The land was to be bulldozed by its new owner.

When discussing her blog and Web site, Hannah told Grist.org, "Your audience is pretty well-versed on most of these issues, but for the mainstream culture, to let them know to change out their household cleaning products, or their utilities or their light bulbs, those basic things can make such a huge difference."

Longtime environmentalist Julia Louis-Dreyfus also remains committed to living eco-friendly. Known for her dynamic role on the hit television show "Seinfeld," playing the quirky character Elaine Benes, Louis-Dreyfus has been forging her way into our living rooms since 1982, where she began her comedic career as a cast member of "Saturday Night Live."

With her husband of 20 years, Louis-Dreyfus commissioned a "greenie" architect to completely restore their home with a retractable solar-powered roof, and various other advanced energy saving features.

"I'm not the type to ride a bike to work everyday, but I'll damn well buy a hybrid-engine car. I'm not the type to cut back on hot showers, but there's no harm in hot water when it's warmed by the sun," Louis-Dreyfus said in an interview with Grist.org.

Louis-Dreyfus speaks openly and honestly about the role she and other celebrities play in the global energy crisis.

"When Leo DiCaprio or Cameron Diaz is seen driving a hybrid-engine car to the Oscars, that has far-reaching influence," she told Grist.org. "They help shake off the idea that environmentalism is a hippie-crunchy-granola-fringe movement."