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To their credit, the celebrity citizens of Hollywood often get behind notable and noble causes: They banded together to raise tens of millions of dollars for Haiti relief. They lend their voices to documentaries about human rights and social justice. They use their famous names to bring attention to global issues and calamities such as the genocide in Darfur. And many stars buy carbon offsets to make up for the excessive airline travel their jobs sometimes require.
Some of the most popular causes among Hollywood hotshots are environmental and 'green' issues such as global warming, pollution and sustainable living practices such as solar power. However, some celebs seem to be jumping on the eco-bandwagon because it's trendy, good for their ego, better for their image and it scores them positive press in gossip glossies and celebrity blogs. Surely any planet-saving effort made by a celeb (or anyone for that matter) should be lauded and applauded. But as is often the case, looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to the depth of some stars' self-proclaimed commitment to eco-friendly practices. There is an undoubted irony when we spot a celeb sporting a "Green is the New Black" t-shirt while driving a gas-guzzling Range Rover or when a star like Kate Walsh travels by private plane to an event promoting sustainable living. I smell hypocrisy. Anyone with me?
Of course, with the good comes the bad. Click through the photogallery below to see our picks for eco warriors and eco losers. Then tell us what you're doing to help the planet in our comments below, on Facebook or Twitter. We want to hear from you!
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Lance Armstrong
While the citizens of Austin, TX coped with mandatory water rationing in the summer of 2008, super-cyclist Lance Armstrong used 38 times the amount of water at his Austin estate than the average Austin household. According to reports from that time, the average Austin household used between 8,000-9,000 gallons of water per month while Armstrong's 1+ acre estate with its titanic, 14,000+ sq. ft. Tuscan style mansion used 222,900 gallons in June of 2008 and 330,000 gallons in July of 2008. When asked about his excessive consumption of water, Armstrong claimed to be shocked and surprised, even though he'd been using an average of 158,000 gallons of water each month since January of 2007.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Madonna
Not only does pop superstar Madonna own and occupy several massive energy hogging mansions in London, Beverly Hills and New York City (shown here), she usually travels on a gas guzzling private jet with an army sized entourage. According to previous reports, Madonna also spends upwards of $120,000 per year on truckloads of plastic bottled Kabbalah water that will end up in landfills from now until the end of time.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
John Travolta
The Academy Award winning actor owns not one but five private planes including a behemoth Boeing 707 that he flies for personal use, a plane that would normally carry up to 150 passengers. According to the website Ecorazzi, Travolta has a carbon footprint up to 100 times the average person because of his near obsession with private planes.
Seen here, the "Jett-Bleu" estate (named after his children), is a 6,400-square-foot mansion designed to resemble an airport terminal. Travolta can literally pull up his private Boeing 707 or Gulfstream to his front door.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
There's no question that both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are international do-gooders who give millions to their pet charities such as Doctors Without Borders. Jolie works tirelessly on a variety of humanitarian issues and Pitt is devoted to the environmental nonprofit group Global Green USA who sponsored an affordable green building competition in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Despite all that, the couple maintains a half dozen or more massive residences and compounds around the world (like their France home seen here) that require a colossal amount of energy just to maintain. They also jet around the world in private planes and helicopters and cart their half dozen children and extensive entourage around in a fleet of gasoline gulping SUVs. While we applaud their charity work, we have to give a big eco-thumbs down to their energy-guzzling lifestyle.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Gwyneth Paltrow
The bi-continental actress talks a good line about the importance of "going green" but she and her musician husband Chris Martin own and occupy super-sized residences in New York, the Hamptons and London -- where they recently added a third townhouse to their already tremendous two-townhouse home. The third house, reportedly, was purchased to house the family's staff. The Martin/Paltrows have also angered residents in their posh London neighborhood by removing trees to make way for their new swimming pool and 30+ room mansion.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
George Clooney
On one hand, the handsome actor is a vocal proponent of the electric car movement -- he was one of the first people to own a Tango, the car that gets 135 miles to a single charge and he reportedly owns a $150,000, electric-powered Tesla Roadster, the car that races from zero to 60MPH in 4 seconds and can go 250 miles between charges. That all gets our green stamp of approval, no doubt. However, Clooney also has a penchant for private planes. He once sucked up 7,000 gallons of jet fuel on a single private flight from L.A. to Tokyo. In addition, he maintains several large estates in both Los Angeles and Italy that require vast resources to maintain and run.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Ed Begley Jr.
Hollywood's most avid eco-warrior is, without question, actor Ed Begley Jr. Not only does the former star of long-defunct hospital drama 'St. Elsewhere' own an electric-powered Toyota Rav4 and a hybrid Prius, he's been known to show up for industry events on his bicycle.
Unlike many so-called green-friendly celebs who live in huge homes that use two, five and even 10 times the amounts of energy and water used by the average home, the Begley Jr. family lives in a modest 2-bedroom home with sun-chasing solar panels (seen here) and drought tolerant landscaping. In his fervent quest to live an eco-friendly lifestyle, Begley Jr. recycles, composts, collects rainwater, grows his own vegetables and uses a toaster powered by a stationary bicycle.
Begley Jr. also helps his celebrity friends to live a greener lifestyle on his reality show 'Living With Ed,' wrote a book called 'Ed Begley Jr.'s Guide to Sustainable Living' which aims to teach people how to live in a way that reduces their negative impact on the planet, and created an eco-friendly cleaning product called Begley's Best with ingredients that are all natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Daryl Hannah
She's perhaps best known as a blond beauty who stars in blockbuster films like 'Kill Bill' and 'Splash,' but Daryl Hannah is also a passionate and dedicated environmental activist who really practices what she preaches.
Her home in the Rocky Mountains is totally off the grid -- it runs entirely on solar power and makes use of a gray water system. She even has a couch made of mossy stone that she has to water -– probably with the rainwater she collects -– to keep alive. Hannah drove an ugly 1983 El Camino that runs on biodiesel long before most people had ever even heard of biodiesel and she recently had the 1979 Pontiac Trans Am she drove in 'Kill Bill' converted to run on ethanol.
Hannah doesn't just keep her activism at home. In 2006, she was arrested after spending 23 days up in a walnut tree to protest the planned demolition of Los Angeles' South Central Urban Garden, one of the largest urban farms in the country that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to hundreds of residents of the impoverished neighborhood. Although Hannah continues her crusade for sustainable living practices with a website called D.H. Love Life, the garden in South Central was shut down.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Leonardo DiCaprio
The Oscar nominated super star really puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to environmental issues. In addition to donating big bucks to environmental and relief funds and sitting on the boards of several eco-organizations, he created and funds the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation, which is devoted to eco-causes and concerns.
But it's the little things that really set DiCaprio apart from others. His house in the Hollywood Hills is equipped with solar panels, his New York City apartment is located in a "green" building, he drives a hybrid Prius and an electric powered Tesla Roadster and in a very un-A-list celebrity move, he typically flies commercial rather than private.
Celebs Going Green: Eco-Heroes & Eco-Fails
Adrian Grenier
In addition to having photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of his Brooklyn, NY townhouse, the Prius driving star of "Entourage" used recycled denim as wall insulation. Grenier brought his environmental activism to his professional life hosting 'Alter Eco' a makeover series on Planet Green, the world's first 24-hour television network committed to eco-lifestyle programming.
