  (Toronto Sun files) |
If green is the new black, no one's pulling off this steaming hot trend better than the rich and famous.
Nothing boosts a star's image quite as effectively as sporting a finely-selected green cause while walking down the red carpet.
That many so-called environmentally conscious celebs continue to gas up stretched limos, guzzle bottles of vitamin-infused water and take extravagant jet-setting trips to promote their latest films doesn't much matter.
Committing to one green change secures a spot in the most-popular movement going.
Fact is, big screen names serving as tree-hugging do-gooders is hot.
What this also means is that defying the fad will most certainly land a celebrity on the "not hot" list.
Look at entertainer Celine Dion when ABC News reported she "used 6.5 million gallons of water at her Florida home," which, according to the story, is more than 100 times what the typical area resident uses.
But, even if one's motive is somewhat self serving, stars gone green isn't exactly an undesirable trend.
Sure, green living can give even the most narcissistic of Hollywood scenesters a nice new polish by neatly repackaging them as a deeply-dedicated Susan Sarandon type. It certainly makes a publicist's job easier because it sure beats making headlines for a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic, at least trimming down on one's environmental footprint isn't harming anyone, right?
Unless of course you count an over saturation of tabloid coverage, that is.
Anyway, sex sells, and few people can sell anything better than the famous.
Seriously, how many of us had even heard of Kaballah before Madonna started prancing around with a little red string tied around her wrist?
In just a few short years, stars have transformed the environmental movement from an image that was about as bleak and uncool as wearing Birkenstocks with socks to the coolest scene going.
Thing is, if hundreds of thousands of people are willing to buy supermarket rags such as US Weekly and People to eyeball snapshots of celebrities doing lame stuff like grocery shopping, chances are they're paying attention when Julia Roberts buys non-toxic, chlorine-free gDiapers.
When Vanity Fair released its first glossy green issue three years ago, it painted big box-office names, including Roberts and George Clooney, as cutting edge environmentalists as though they shared ranks with lifetime devotees such as David Suzuki and animal conservationist Jane Goodall.
Regardless, the theme proved successful.
The following year, handsome Leonardo DiCaprio appeared as the magazine's planet-loving cover boy.
When 2008's instalment arrived with Madonna gracing the cover wearing an ensemble of black thigh-high lace-up boots and skimpy body suit, no one new it would be the last of a still fresh idea.
Perhaps signalling a fad on its way out, or exemplifying how jumping on a bandwagon too quickly can prove fatal, Vanity Fair has decided against printing a green issue this year.
Publisher Conde Nast deemed the annual special unnecessary now that environmental issues have become mainstream news.
But, even if the sexy set finds themselves back in black, this much is certain: Green will never go out of style.
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STARS GONE GREEN:
- Well-known actor and long-time environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. is in Toronto today co-hosting the Green Toronto Awards with Mayor David Miller.
- The Barenaked Ladies have long been committed to the environment. In a 2007 show, the musicians brought David Suzuki on stage to speak to the crowd. A video featuring Canadians and how they'd help the environment if they were prime minister was also shown.
- Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is a board member of both the Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green. DiCaprio also narrated 11th Hour, a documentary about the imprint people are having on the environment.
- Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett's home is entirely powered by solar panels. Meanwhile the actress launched an online climate change campaign in 2007.
- Actor Darryl Hannah is also a fan of off-grid living and also grows her own organic food.
- Actor George Clooney does his part by driving electric-powered vehicles and supporting a number of causes, including both the Save Darfur initiative and Bono's ONE campaign. He also lent his assistance to a telethon for South Asia tsunami victims in 2004.
- Actor Edward Norton is on Global Green's board, which also receives support from celebs Salma Hayak and Jake Gyllenhaal. Norton hosts the award-winning National Geographic series, Strange Days on Planet Earth.
