Celebrities have the ability to influence people’s decisions on everything from what to wear, eat and drink to where to party or vacation.
Sadly, more often than not, fans have a way of emulating the most frivolous of these celebrity trends. At their worst, celebrity antics can inspire lewd, garish and surprisingly immature behavior. Luckily this is not always the case!
Some of today’s biggest trendsetting A-listers have quietly shifted away from extravagant and ostentatious automobiles towards environmentally conscious hybrids and electrics. Hopefully these celebrities have enough clout with their fans to finally make greener vehicles attractive enough to buy.
After all, now if you want to drive the same car as A-listers like Brad Pitt and Billy Joel (an A-lister in my book) you don’t need a Porsche or Lamborghini. All you need is a Prius!
A Listers are setting an example by trending environmentally conscious hybrids and electrics
The Toyota Prius is already the most purchased, widespread hybrid car in the US, both for celebrities and regular Joes. The list of celebs zooming and zipping around town in their Prii includes Harrison Ford, Ellen DeGeneres, Leonard DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Cameron Diaz. While I imagine their electric hybrids are fully pimped and loaded, you have to respect these celebs for embracing and flaunting vehicles that are both better for the environment and attainable by the average Joe.
Tom Hanks has gone a step further than most in his green car quest.
Wanting to slash his carbon footprint as much as possible, Hanks wasn’t going to settle on a mere gas-electric hybrid.
Before Scion even had a fully electric car, Hanks took a standard gas-powered one and ripped out the engine and drive train to make his own 100% Electric vehicle. Of course, as soon as Scion developed the xB, their all electric car, Hanks was the first to receive one. Nowadays when not in his tricked out electric Scion “e-Box,” Hanks drives to and from his L.A. production company in an adapted Toyota Rav4. Hanks is so proud of his electric 4WD’s over 47,000 gas-free miles, that he’s even made a youtube video about it.
It’s a nice change of pace to see Hollywood’s biggest A-list stars coming down to Earth and embracing the same simple, pro-Earth changes that so-called “regular folks” can make in their lives. Hopefully as more and more A-listers champion green causes and Earth-friendly products, their changes will be picked up and emulated by fans the world over!
About the Author:When he’s not outside in the Utah wilderness, Greg Buckskin is a writer and blogger for Comcast.USDirect – home to Comcast Deals.
I’m betting in 20 years or less the general public won’t be able to buy a gasoline powered car.
texxs recently posted..BP Oil Spill – One Year Later
They will all be in museums or recycled as garden gnomes with any luck Tex :-) No seriously 20 years sounds like a feasible amount of time for gasoline powered cars to be totally phased out but we all know that it could still be far too little and too late. Sorry thats a negative thought isnt it so now we need to get focussed on the positive things like electric cars that are powered by wind and solar and bio fuels that will not create more problems than we already have.
I think 20 years is feasible to see the end of gas-powered car sales in the more developed world, but sadly not the end of them on the roads as we still have countless cars from the 80s and 90s on our highways.
I didn’t know that Scion made an electric version of the xB. Maybe that’s only in California?
I believe that Scion’s electric version of the xB was made only for the US markets Reggie. However I’m no car expert or enthusiast so be prepared for me to say a few things that might have little or no substance at all. :-) Maybe someone else will come along and enlighten us
I really want want want.
BUT will they be generating enough electricity to keep all these cars charged up and will solar or wind power be enough to do this. If there are millions of elec cars people will feel as though they are doing no harm and probably drive even more. Then perhas they will be even more nuclear plants to feed the demand.
catch 22 eh?
good question. It is a major shift and the investments into wind and solar need to be massively increased to produce enough electricity for millions of cars that will ( or could) be travelling further if the guilty conscience is removed.
I for one would not want to see nuclear investment increased to fuel any car of mine.
The other question I always come back to is what will be done about all the hazardous, corrosive waste generated from production of and disposal of all the batteries that will be needed as more and more e-cars and hybrids get on the roads?
Yes hybrids and electrics are great on the emissions side of the equation, but their batteries require massive mines for rare metals to produce and are horrible polluters when not disposed of properly.
I hate to see one problem solved by creating another one…
Yes there always is a flip side isn’t there Greg? I did manage to find this site with some good information which sheds a bit of light on what the batteries will be like and how they might be better than batteries we have in our cars currently…
“The prevailing opinion is that the batteries will not pose much of an environmental problem because of their large weight and high cost. The rationale is that since electric vehicle battery packs weigh several hundred pounds and cost several thousand dollars, they will most likely be replaced by certified repair centers, that will return them to the manufacturer for recycling. Unlike regular car batteries, it will not be economical to simply throw electric vehicle battery packs away when they can no longer hold a charge. The batteries will most likely be refilled, and the original contents recycled, just as motor oil is today. ”
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Samples/policy/voytishlong.html
Karen Maskall – Founder of Pledging for Change recently posted..Can You Learn to Love Drinking Water
Oh I just love Tom Hanks.
However I do think all celebrities have a duty to set good examples. Hats off to them.
It’s great for celebrities to prove to be good influences, especially when it comes down to bettering this planet. I’m sure they have extreme influence on their fans and it only spreads the word about becoming more Eco-friendly and environmentally aware.
Its a good thing that celebrities trust scion. And it influences people to have one. Thanks a lot.
Hope more celebrities do this kind of thing, it will surely supercharge the efforts of some organizations to promote for a green environment.
Ephraim recently posted..Radio Flyer Ultimate Comfort Wagon Review
Great video! It is nice to see celebrities that we look up to, to promote for the same things that we “normal” people believe in. Definitely role models on and off screen. Very cool-thanks for sharing!
I think it is awesome that some celebrities are taking responsibility and using ‘green’ cars. There really is no excuse for us to be using petrol driven cars when the technology is already available to use alternatives. I like Tom Hanks, so I’m pleased to see him doing his bit for the environment.
I love that some celebrities are using their ‘power’ for good. Even if it’s for selfish motives like getting a free car or just to promote their good image, it still impacts people because a lot of people look to celebrities for trends or inspiration. I’ve heard that at a lot of awards shows and celebrity events they even have Priuses and some Green vehicles pick the VIPs up instead of normal limos or Escalades.