Ed Begley's Environmental Zeal

by Blaise Nutter

Ed Begley Jr. - actor, father of three, environmental activist - loves talking about the environment. It gets him excited. More than any film or TV role, he's known as the greenest celebrity in Tinseltown, famous for showing up to movie premieres on his bicycle.

"All the stuff that I did, it all was good for the environment," he explains as he points out the solar panels, double glazed windows, and fluorescent light bulbs throughout his house. "But I quickly discovered that it was good for my bottom line."

In 1979, he bought a house with his wife Ingrid with the hope to pass onto his children a connection to the land. "I wanted to show my children where food comes from. It doesn't come from the Ralph's tree or the Safeway bush; it comes from the earth." By raising them on a little land, teaching them to plant vegetables, and recycling everything they could, Begley made environmentalism feel normal. "They've been exposed to it for their whole lives, so it makes sense to them, not just for the environment but also for our bottom line." Even his youngest daughter, only six, gets it. "She knows that we drive an electric car and that's all she's ever known. She kind of wonders why people drive cars that make smog."

Today, Begley is happily married to his second wife, Rachelle, and they live in that same house with their six-year old daughter. In a few weeks, the entire Begley family will begin filming "Living With Ed," a reality show for the Home & Garden Television Network about, well, living with Ed. Begley sees the show as something that can be funny as well as informative. "[It will] show how we interact, the challenges we face... the disparity between me, the environmental zealot if you will, and her, the less than environmental zealot." He's excited about the show, the possibility of combining entertainment with his passion for the environment.

A little over a year ago, Begley decided to follow in the footsteps of actor/activist Paul Newman and create a line of products to raise money for charity. Begley created an all-purpose non-toxic household cleaner called Begley's Best. With so many chemical cleaners in the average household, Begley's Best makes a perfect replacement for parents worried about curious children rummaging around in the kitchen: biodegradable, non-polluting, and completely child-safe. And even better, all the profit goes straight to charities: "I've given away thousands of dollars to different charities I care about, because, when you're not paying any salaries, you can give it away as quick as it comes in." Begley's Best is now available at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Lassen's, and other stores throughout the Southland area, as well as online at www.begleysbest.

He does, however, freely admit there are costs to saving the environment. "Solar energy is expensive for now, I won't suggest otherwise." He suggests people start small: "Compact fluorescent bulbs, energy saving thermostat, the simplest stuff. Riding your bike to work. Public transportation. There so many things at the base of that pyramid that you can do first, and then you'll be saving so much money it'll be easier to afford to buy solar.

"I always urge people to go steadily forward and at a pace they can manage," Begley explains. "You don't run up Mount Everest. You get to base camp, you stop, you acclimate, and then you go further." Because all those little steps, in the end, they'll make a huge difference.