Many famous people love to talk about big issues like the environment, but are they actually doing anything?
One thing celebrities undeniably do is bring attention to a cause. That is indisputable. Whether on Twitter or in their award acceptance speech, a famous person mentioning a cause absolutely brings attention to it, which is in no way a meager contribution on its own.
But in the issue of environmentalism, you can often see a lot of contradictions to what these high-status people say on stage versus what they practice in their lives. It’s not genuine for someone to take a private jet across the country to an awards show, ride in a gas guzzling S.U.V. or limo, say how much they care about the earth and then hop back in their jet.
Take Madonna, for example. The pop legend has been outspoken on several causes including the environment, even performing at London’s Live Earth concert in 2008. Madonna is also an avid investor who has invested millions of dollars into some of the globe’s greatest corporate polluters, including BP oil company.
Leonardo DiCaprio is probably the most vocal celebrity environmentalist, devoting almost all of his online presence to the cause. He also started The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, part of the $1 billion California Family Foundation. But DiCaprio is a frequent flier of private jets, a huge contributor to greenhouse gasses.
Last year, for the UN Climate Change Conference in Scotland, DiCaprio did ditch the private jet and flew commercial, a promising step toward being genuine change and a better choice for the Earth than many of his fellow attendees made.
For Earth Day this year, Kourtney Kardashian posted beautiful pictures of the nature she saw in Hawaii, where she was vacationing at the time. The caption read “love her and take care of her every day.” This statement was proceeded by several emojis of planet Earth, so I think it’s safe to assume Kardashian is saying she takes care of the Earth every day.
I do have to give her credit for the fact that it is known that she does not own a private jet, though it’s hard to imagine that anyone in the Kardashian family flies commercial. But what we do know is that Kardashian owns a collection of 25 gas-guzzling cars. She has also taken several vacations overseas in the last year, creating a huge carbon footprint for herself.
There are, however, some celebrities who talk a big game and are able to follow it up. Joaquin Phoenix, who is an outspoken vegan, wore the same suit throughout the 2020 awards season in an attempt to cut down on fashion waste, a huge issue in the world but especially in Hollywood.
In his Oscars acceptance speech that year, he called on his fellow stars to do more for sustainability. “We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs,” he said. “I’ll try to do better, and I hope you will too.” A few days later, he was arrested alongside Jane Fonda in her environmentalism protests in Washington D.C.
It’s not enough for these hypocritical celebrities to change their ways though, it needs to be a group effort. Every famous person is an opportunity to bring awareness and real change, but most of them waste it.
I hope to see a future where caring about our environment isn’t just another badge of honor famous people slap on their social media. I want to see these huge platforms and expansive resources put towards saving the planet we all call home.
Tracy Mullinax can be reached at [email protected]