Living Like Ed - (Page 13) INTRODUCTION A big environmental bandwagon has been rolling through town lately, and a lot of folks inside and outside of Hollywood have hopped on. And I couldn’t be happier! Though sadly it’s taken some pretty dire environmental predictions to focus everyone’s attention on the harm we are doing to the planet, I believe the message is finally being heard and that more people every day are looking around to see what they can do to live in a more eco-friendly, responsible way. Fortunately, there’s a lot that every single one of us can do. In a nutshell, I believe we need to live simply so that others can simply live. And I’m here to show you how. People who know me as an actor may not realize that I’ve got another passion that’s at least as important to me: the environment. Sometimes, when people see me at a grocery store or at a farmers’ market selling my Begley’s Best nontoxic cleaning supplies, they’re kind of baffled, wondering if I’ve fallen on hard times. It’s surely a surprise, after seeing me on TV or in movies, to find me standing there hawking cleaning products. Actually, I still work quite regularly as an actor. But I also make time to sell these nontoxic cleaning supplies—and I put my name on them—because I really believe in them. And if you’ve ever seen my television show, Living with Ed, about how my wife, Rachelle, and our daughter, Hayden, and I live, you know my commitment to living simply, cleanly, and efficiently doesn’t stop there. I got involved with the environment in 1970, the year the first Earth Day was held. I started recycling, composting, and buying biodegradable soaps and detergents, and I bought my first electric car. In 1990 I bought a little house that had been built in 1936, long before the phrase energy efficiency was common parlance. I thought, “I’ve been a quote/unquote environmentalist for twenty years now. It’s time for me to go a little further.” I had a book, 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth. I thought, “Let me try all fifty,” figuring maybe half of them would work. Well, guess what? They all worked. Every last one. Some of the results 13 chapter: title
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.