Talking With Ed Begley, Jr.

Talking with Ed Begley, Jr.

Now don’t be jealous, but we were able to get an interview with the one-man-eco-revolution - Ed Begley, Jr. Many of us know him for his acting, but he is just as much of an eco-rock star as he is a well-known and award-winning actor. Aside from living the dolce green vita for many years, he has a popular green show – Living with Ed: There Grows The Neighborhood – now in its second season on HGTV (in Canada) and Planet Green (in the USA). He has a hot new book out – Living Like Ed – A Guide To The Eco-Friendly Life. There is also another book coming out in 2009. For someone who is doing so much good in the world, we found him to be surprisingly low key and, well, rather humble.

We caught up with our favourite green guy to ask a few questions – mainly what is it like to be an eco-revolutionary and would he share some of his recent eco-epiphanies with our readers.

So, how does it feel to be a one-man eco-revolutionary?

Well, there are many people in the environmental movement who are more important than I am. I’m just a guy who did what he did, and because of my connection to Hollywood, got noticed a lot. Rachel Carson, Robert Kennedy, David Suzuki – there are so many people who have done so much. I applaud their efforts and look up to them every day. My father always told me “Eddie, don’t tell people what you’re going to do, show them by doing it.” So, that’s sort of been how I’ve tried to live my life….and it is satisfying knowing that people today are being motivated to action by watching my example. If anything I’ve done has helped create positive change, then I’m happy.

Did you give up celebrity for eco-activism? Or just decide to combine the two?

Acting came first. I started acting in the 1960s. My concerns for the environment began in 1970 with the first Earth Day. Acting has always been my profession. My environmentalism has always been my life choice. It’s only recently that my environmentalism actually became a business. I started Begley’s Best several years ago as a charitable business, like Newman’s Own. Now I have a brand licensing business, I endorse a number of high-quality green products, and I do a lot of speaking engagements on the environment. It’s been great, but acting will always be my work passion. And I’ve been doing a lot of it lately, so I’m doubly grateful. I’m enjoying both careers now a great deal.

It’s so important that change be accessible. This is not a fad here – this is the future of the planet.
—Ed Begley, Jr.

Why is it important to make the green movement accessible?

It’s so important that change be accessible. This is not a fad here – this is the future of the planet. That’s why I try to focus on the things that are cheap and easy – the low hanging fruit. When I began this lifestyle in 1970, I was a struggling actor making very little money. Check my credits on IMDB – I wasn’t working much. So I had to do things that were cheap and easy. And as I did them, I realized, to my surprise, that I was saving money! As I saved money, I did more. And so on. And so what I tell people is “don’t try to run up Mt. Everest.” Climb slowly, pick the low hanging fruit first, save money, and then climb higher. It took me 15 years to save up enough money to get solar hot water on my house, and 20 years to get solar electric. If everyone does what they can, it will make a huge difference.

What can we learn from your TV show - Living With Ed: Season 2?

Living With Ed was the idea of our friend Joe Brutsman and the production company BCII in Los Angeles. He had seen me and Rachelle fighting and arguing and doing our schtick and thought it would make a good reality show. Several years prior to that, my son and his friends had also suggested it. So we agreed, and it’s been a lot of fun. I have been involved in some green documentaries over the years – you know, the ones that air at 4 a.m. that no one sees – and thought that perhaps through the comedy and humor that is my life, we could get the message across better. To my satisfaction, people seem to like it. It’s sort of a modern day Green Acres meets the Bickersons – I’m green, Rachelle isn’t, and we find the compromises in our lives. Rachelle actually is quite green, she just likes things to be more aesthetically pleasing, where I’m more about saving energy and making it work. She’s certainly made our home a much more beautiful place to live. But hopefully, people are learning about the things that I’ve done to save energy, save money, reduce pollution, live healthy – and they are getting some good takeaways from the show. We’ve answered thousands of fan mails, so I think people ARE learning.

What have you got planned for Season 2?

To be perfectly accurate, we did 6 episodes as part of season 1 and 13 episodes as part of season 2. Those have aired on HGTV Canada. In the U.S., those episodes are now being re-aired on the new Discovery network Planet Green. We’re hopeful that PG will ask us to make more episodes. If so, we’d be glad to do it. I think on PG we’d explore some more varied green issues regarding energy, transportation, health and wellness, travel and leisure and others. HGTV was pretty focused on home stuff – for obvious reasons. We’d like to get out and show more of our lives in the future if we do more episodes.

What green epiphanies have you had over the last few years?

Well, the big one in the last 12 months was the fact that I thought my house was really energy efficient, but I found out it wasn’t! Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had my old 1930s house re-insulated; new double pane windows etc. and I thought I had really made it efficient. Then, recently, I used new technology not available to me back then to see if I was really efficient. Using infrared cameras and pressure testing equipment, I figured out that in fact my house was bleeding energy! So, again using new technology and processes, I re-insulated the house again and now I’m really efficient. With very few exceptions, I never use grid-power anymore – which is a great feeling. Another would be water. We’ve always known we’re on borrowed time with water supply here in L.A., but now it’s reaching mission critical levels. So I’m planning on an expanded rainwater and grey water recycling system in my house to try and lead by example. Whiskey is for drinking, but water is for fighting.

Conservation should always come first. A kW saved is always cheaper than a kW produced.
—Ed Begley, Jr.

How do you stay so optimistic?

We have a lot of challenges – and I use the word challenges because I think they can be solved. We have 4 times the number of cars in Los Angeles than we had in 1970, yet we have half the smog. This is a huge victory. We did it with catalytic converters and combined cycle gas turbines and paint booths and other things – and the California economy didn’t go broke doing it. We’ve shown we can do it and I’m confident that we can do it again. Again, rather than argue against misinformation, I try to lead by example. I’ve done these things and they work and they save me money! If you can save money, help reduce smog in a city like L.A., and reduce our dependency on Mid-East oil, who’s not for that? Forget whether or not you think global climate change is real or man-made – these are things all of us can agree on.

Tell us about your new book Living Like Ed:A Guide To The Eco-Friendly Life.

Well, the book came out in February and it’s done really well. I’ve gotten so many good responses to it. People tell me it’s fun and educational and they’ve learned a lot from it. I tried to summarize all the things I’ve done over the last 38 years so that people would have a starting point. I break things down into categories of my life like transportation, home, recycling – and I include a little workbook in the back so people can track what they’ve done and how much money they’ve saved. I’m just finishing up my second book now that will come out in 2009. It will be a much more detailed book about projects like solar panels and wind turbines and HVAC and insulation – so if people really want help with the larger stuff, I’ve tried to give them lots of detail on that. Also, the focus is to do things in the correct order. Conservation should always come first. A kW saved is always cheaper than a kW produced. Sometimes people get hung up on wanting solar panels, when what they should really focus on is insulating their home first.

I love Canada. It is a very green country and Canadians are very tuned in to the challenges and the solutions.
—Ed Begley, Jr.

What are 5 things every North American can do to live more lightly?

1) Get out of your car – a day a week, a couple days a month – something. Walk, ride a bike (weather and fitness permitting), use public transportation. If everyone could do this, it would be a huge impact.
2) Recycle and compost.
3) Insulate – use weather stripping and just seal up the big leaks.
4) Lighting – change to CFLs and/or LEDs – there’s HUGE saving here and it will pay for itself almost immediately.
5) Grow something - start a vegetable garden or get a part of a community garden or support your local farmers market.

Have you ever been to Canada? How green do you find Canadians?

I’ve been to Canada many many times – in fact 3 or 4 times in the last 12 months. I love Canada. It is a very green country and Canadians are very tuned in to the challenges and the solutions. The wind turbine company I’m currently working with is based in Canada. Canadians really get it.