(Apr 16, 2008)Ed Begley Jr first caught our eye playing Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the long-running hit television series, "St. Elsewhere," for which he received six Emmy nominations. He is also become famous for being one of Hollywood’s original greens and turning up to events on his bicycle.
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He’s been showing us all how to go green with his comedy reality show Living with Ed and his recent book Living like Ed. You can hear Ed speak at the Toronto Green Living Show on Saturday, April 26. Shelagh McNally spoke to Ed about going green and getting connected. Green Living Online: Bobby Kennedy, Jr. has described you as someone with a greater sense of social obligation than most of us have. How did you get involved in being green? Ed Begley Jr.: In 1970 I got involved with the first Earth Day. I wasn’t at the Washington Mall but I celebrated in California. I just wanted to do something because I grew up in L.A. and one day I just got fed up with the smog. I wanted to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. So I bought an electric car. I started recycling and composting. I did everything I could in every part of my life where I could make a difference. And, it felt good. Would you agree being connected is at the heart of the green movement? We have to have some kind of connection to the living world. At the end of the day it may be nice to look at a picture of Yosemite or Yellowstone while surfing the net. But you have to put the mouse down, close up the computer and get out there. Put on some boots and go for a hike, get your hands in the dirt, plant in your backyard or start a community garden. Get some contact with the earth. You have been extremely patient with the new technologies. What do you think about all the new green technologies coming out? There are so many choices now, so many functional tools in the tool box that we can all use. I urge people to do what I did in 1970. I was not a successful actor back then. I was a struggling actor so I did what I could afford. I picked the low hanging fruit first since that’s all I could afford. I couldn’t afford solar panels! It took me 20 years to afford solar electric and 15 to afford solar hot water. So you start small and you build: CFL light bulbs, energy saving thermostats, bike riding when weather and fitness permits, taking local transportation, good insulation in the house. Start cheap and easy. You’ll save money on all the things I’ve mentioned -- I promise you. And then you can move up the ladder if you’re so inclined.
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Living Like Ed
Rare earth elements on the endangered list Your book uses that image of a tree to divide green into different levels. How long did it take you to figure out the levels and the costs? I just did what I could afford. I bought an electric car for 950 dollars. I didn’t do it to save money; I did it to save the environment. I was more shocked than anyone when I started saving money. It was simply cheaper to plug it into the wall than it was to buy gasoline even with the 1970 prices. And it was much cheaper to service since there was no tune-ups, no oil changers, fan belts or radiators. There was no smog check. What I urge people to do is buy my book or any other How to book on environmental matters and do the small and simple things first. Do what you can afford. People on any budget can afford a light bulb, weather stripping or to compost -- if you have the room. I did it in my apartment in the 1970s. I didn’t have a house then. I did it in a pail and mixed it up and buried it somewhere else. If you don’t have a piece of dirt in front of your home, join a community garden. Start small and build. Is part of our problem that we just have too much?That’s definitely at the root of the problem. At the end of the day even solar panels and electric cars are not going to bring you happiness. They are just things and can’t bring satisfaction. We need to live simply so others can simply live. With simpler lives, we have a better quality of life. We’re not spending all our time servicing our stuff. Affluenza -- the flu you get from having too much. How can we encourage people to have the sense of adventure and excitement when going green? You know my sense of excitement comes from making positive changes and being able to do something positive. I get that from my father. He was a conservative who liked to conserve. I’m not to the same political persuasion as my father but he was a great man. He always did what he said and said what he did and encouraged me to do the same. I get my enthusiasm from results. You know, we have four times the amount of cars in L.A. than we did in 1970 yet we have half the pollution. I own a small piece of that. Everybody in L.A. does for doing all the stuff that helped clean up the air: catalytic converters, staying the course, allowing our local government and air quality management district to do their job and adhere to the Federal clean air act. We did it. We haven’t gone to the top of the mountain but we have climbed halfway. We’ve shown we can do it.
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