At Home with Green Celebrity Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander

Photo: Denise Truscello/wireimage.com

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One of the biggest green discussions we have in our home is about how we will never be able to really get control of the destruction of our planet's valuable resources until we realize that we have an enormous responsibility and obligation to control the size of the human population that is expanding at a rate never seen before in our history.

This planet was never intended to support the number of human beings we currently have residing on it. As a result, natural lands and animal populations are disappearing -- and rapidly. If we do not start to really understand this harsh reality and reverse it, our planet will not survive. At least not with a quality of life that anyone would wish for.

So our family talks about responsibility in family planning. We talk about replacing ourselves on this globe, rather than doubling or tripling our numbers. It is not an easy conversation. Life and families and babies are all joyous gifts. But if we do not begin to truly account for our numbers, we will surely create an ecological crisis that will only lead to anguish and despair.

We also talk about small acts of conservation in terms that make them impact in a more realized way. Leaving on lights unnecessarily isn't just 'wasteful' or 'costly.' We talk about how the waste of that energy affects arctic refuges.

We talk about the excitement of alternative fuel research and how we must empower politicians and advocates that will invest in that technology. I sometimes get into mind-blowing discussions with the kids about an experimental technology called 'thermal depolymerization.' It is a new and cutting edge science but if it can be developed fully, it will enable us to take almost all the waste products we create and recycle them into water and usable oils. Very exciting.

We do what we can. We drive hybrids. We drive with an awareness of fuel conservation, when possible. We are stingy with power use in our home. We carpool. We use solar energy in certain parts of our property. We recycle. We reuse.

And we talk about environmental challenges with a positive tone. We can meet these challenges. We must and we will. And I believe it is the generation that my children represent that will make some of the greatest impact.

Jason Alexander is an actor ("Seinfeld"), director, husband, father to two young sons, and activist who supports numerous environmental causes.

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