Ed Begley

The Green Carpet: Hollywood

Hollywood Celebrities Build Green Homes

October 8, 2008 at 3:34PM By Tommi Lewis Tilden | comment

The 90210 zip may still be home to the massive mansions we first caught glimpses of on "The Beverly Hillbillies," but these days The Clampetts are converting their estates to green, and not the kind you roll in. It seems the Beverly Hills City Council is borrowing a page from the eco-friendly handbook by offering incentives for homeowners to build or remodel in an energy efficient manner.

The famed city also recently passed a Green Building ordinance mandating environmentally friendly requirements for commercial and multi-family developments. We can only hope that speculator Donald Trump is mindful of these eco initiatives since lately he's been snapping up several acres of properties around the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Happily, there are many Hollywood-types we can count on to pave the way toward eco-conscious abodes. Take Johnny Depp-in 2005, the star converted his Bahamas island home to run on solar hydrogen technology. Depp's eco enlightenment may have rubbed off on his "Pirates of the Caribbean" costar Orlando Bloom. Last year Bloom built an enviro-friendly house in London. "It's as green as I can make it," Bloom said on green design website Inhabitat. "It's got solar panels on the roof, energy efficient light bulbs-newer technology basically that is environmentally friendly."

Then there are stars that take it to the max, like musician and longtime activist Jackson Browne. His Malibu ranch home is completely off the grid, and is far from running on empty. The airy barn-style house has two loft bedrooms, two guest bedrooms, skylights and tons of windows. "It's made out of masonry and rebar in a way that it stays cool all year round," Browne's live-in girlfriend Dianna Cohen told "Living with Ed," a Planet Green series starring Ed Begley, Jr.

Browne's dwelling is powered by wind turbine and solar panels; a solar-weather measuring station sits atop the property and a well provides water. "I regard this place as sort of an ongoing experiment," Browne said. "I think if you set out to do it all at once, it might seem like a huge expense, but we've done it a little bit at a time." Maybe Browne can share his expertise with Dennis Haysbert ("24," "The Unit"), who is reportedly building his own off the grid Malibu digs.

Ed Begley, Jr., Jackson Browne and Katey Sagal.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" producer Phil Rosenthal may not be off the grid but his house is eco-friendly cool, replete with recycled cork floors, denim insulation and a waterless urinal. Rosenthal and his actress wife Monica (she played Brad Garrett's wife on "Raymond") even recycled the show's set furniture-Frank and Marie's kitchen table sits in their guesthouse.

comment | permalink | print | email |

tags: green building, hollywood, brad pitt, celebrities, homes, Johnny Depp, beverly hills, daryl hannah, adrian grenier, mike holmes, Ed Begley, Jackson Browne

How Bill Nye the Science Guy Makes Green "Stuff Happen"

September 2, 2008 at 5:07PM By Tommi Lewis Tilden | comment

Bill Nye is a long-time environmentalist with a motto: "Leave the world a better place. (Sometimes you gotta pick up somebody else's trash.)"

After a successful run on PBS with "Bill Nye the Science Guy," the multi-hyphenate comedian-TV host-science educator-mechanical engineer is now finding out how "Stuff Happens" on Planet Green's new half hour show (catch it on Tuesdays at 9PM ET). In it, Nye traces where the things we eat, wear, and use come from, and what impact that has on our entire planet.

If anyone's equipped to find links to our stuff and make the information fun, it's this 53-year-old who once had a day job as an engineer and spent nights doing stand-up comedy. "My family is funny," Nye said. "I mean funny in the sense that we make people laugh, not just funny looking."

We talked to Nye about his "feud" with neighbor Ed Begley, Jr., why breakfast matters and got him to confess his biggest eco sin.

bill nye the science guy, television host for planet green and green celebrity

TDG: One of your first "Stuff Happens" episodes is about breakfast. What's so special about breakfast and the environment?
Are you kidding? It's the most important meal of the day. It had the iconic story that North American pigs - from where we get bacon - I presume unwillingly are fed feed made with South American anchovies (and herrings and sardines). Farmers say eating fish helps their animals grow to that wonderfully ample size consumers want. Because of this, we're accidentally destroying an ecosystem. It's the story of stories.

How so?
We're seriously depleting the world's anchovy population and leaving the penguins and South American seabirds with nothing to eat. These birds are dangerously close to starving because the anchovy and sardine populations have been decimated.

What can we do?
Strange as it may seem, you could eat more anchovies. This would raise the price of the fish and make anchovy fish feed more costly and less desirable to pig farmers. Also eat organic bacon from pigs raised on 100% agricultural feed. If you're looking for the true organic meat products, make sure it's grass-fed only.

Let's talk about your green competition with neighbor Ed Begley, Jr. On a show last year, he put up a wind turbine and you said you were doing the same ... did you?
No. His didn't work. There were problems with it. But I'll jump back on the bandwagon. To have 500 kilowatts running through my house is well worth it.

comment | permalink | print | email |

tags: discovery, green celebrities, planet green, Interviews, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Stuff Happens, Ed Begley, bill nye

The Green Carpet: Hollywood

The Green Carpet is your source for coverage of the green lifestyles and activities of celebrities ... read more.

subscribe to this blog

rss

Tommi Lewis Tilden

Tommi Lewis Tilden has worked as an editor for several notable media outlets including Disney Publishing, Teen magazine and TV Guide. The Los Angeles-based editor, journalist and book author is also actively involved in environmental efforts including Tree People and Heal the Bay ... read full bio.

see all posts by this author

contact Tommi Lewis Tilden

Tommi's eco awareness has long encompassed her work (e.g. while editor at TEEN she researched environmentally friendly printing), as well as her personal life (she's a proud Hybrid owner and her home sports solar panels).