by Pamela Kay

Created on: January 25, 2009   Last Updated: February 01, 2009

Celebrities can rock our world with their shenanigans, glitter and talent. We buy the products they endorse and listen to their opinions on important matters such as changing the state of our world, but could they do more? Yes, here are six real ways celebrities can demonstrate environmental commitment.

*Stop Endorsing Environmentally Unfriendly Products

Watch TV for an evening and you will see some celebrity endorsing some product, such as aerosol hairspray, canned beer, soft drinks, disposable diapers and razors. All of these products are harmful to our environment as they produce air pollution and fill our landfills with plastics that will never break down.

*Downsize Their Homes

Celebrities live in mansions, which can be confused with museums or condo complexes. How much room does one person need to live? How can they ask others, who are heating small homes, to turn down the thermostat as they heat rooms the size of gyms? The energy needed to heat, light and cool these mansions is a total waste of resources that are quickly becoming depleted.

*Try Using Commercial Flights

Often, celebrities use their busy schedules as their reason for chartering or owning private jets. Being busy doesn't give anyone the right to pollute. Even John Travolta, who is very outspoken about everyone doing "their bit" to conserve energy and stop polluting, owns five jets.

*Learn The Real Facts

Jumping on a bandwagon and trying to be politically correct for the sake of good publicity without knowing the real facts can do a lot of damage as well as confusing the general public. Is the polar icecap melting or is it not? Is there evidence of global warming or not? If, there is or isn't, the celebrity could give more evidence than that provided by the organization who is often paying them.

*Really Know A Candidate Before Endorsing Him/Her

Endorsing a candidate just because they belong to a particular political party or are riding high on the current tide of public opinion is much the same as buying a pig in a poke. By the time, you know what you are getting, it's often too late and the damage is done.

Celebrities should take the time to investigate and learn what the candidate stands for and what his record on environmental issues says about him. How did he/she vote on issues such as protecting our waterways, sustainable energy and pollution control?

*Get Rid Of Gas Guzzling Limousines

Celebrities seem to have the attitude that if you've got it, you should flaunt it. They do this by driving flashy stretch limousines and arriving in style. If they really wanted to send a message about environmental commitment, they would tone it down and live like the rest of us.

We're enthralled with celebrities. What they're doing, we want to do and what they endorse, we buy. However, the real ways celebrities can demonstrate environmental commitment are to match their actions to their words of endorsement and make sure they know what they're talking about.

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