Acting for the environment

Ed Begley Jr. to speak to Angeles Chapter on living simply

Actor-activist Ed Begley Jr. in his suburban backyard, which hosts numerous edible plants. photo by Dominique Dibbell

Ed Begley Jr. has been a working actor for 38 years and an environmental activist for seemingly his whole life. The yard in his suburban L.A. home brims with both drought-tolerant and edible plants. His white picket fence is made from recycled plastic, and the 117 solar panels on his roof supply almost all the power he and his family need, including energy for his electric Toyota Rav-4 and his wife's Toyota Prius. He is active in many environmental organizations, and also sells an environmentally friendly, all-purpose cleaner, Begley's Best.

On July 24, he will be walking and talking with the Orange County True Cost of Food Committee. . Meet us at 16563 Brookhurst (at Heil) in Fountain Valley (plenty of parking) across from Mile Square Park. Experience the best raw food in OC! Not Raw? This is your opportunity to sample great Raw Veggie food, meet the Orange County Group True Cost of Food Committee and hear Ed Begley, Jr.! Bring extra money ($$$) for dinner! Bring a friend! Newcomers welcome! Please RSVP by July 22, limited seating and bring $5.00 exact cash to event. Contact Lynn Heath at 714-893-2986.

DD: How did you become an environmentalist?

Ed Begley Jr.: It's often the case where a negative influence can have a positive effect. I imagine someone who grew up in war-torn Sarajevo might work for the peace process. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, smoggy L.A. That was the negative. One day I went, enough! That day was 1970, the first Earth Day had occurred, and I went, I don't want to be part of the problem any more. I want to be a small part of the solution.

How did you get involved in the Sierra Club's True Cost of Food Campaign?

I got an e-mail from [OC Conservation Coordinator] Rachel Myers. I know a little bit about the true cost of food in general. For instance, 50 years ago 25 percent of Americans farmed. Now it's 2 percent. The average distance food travels is 1000 miles. People talk about organic, but when you start talking about locally grown and organic, now you're really getting somewhere. People, especially young people, need to learn about the plant kingdom. Kids by the age of 6 know hundreds of logos by sight. They go, oh, that's Mercedes. They know three plants. This is upside down from the way man has lived for thousands of years.

How long have you been vegan?

I started in 1970. It was impossible then. I lasted a year. It was hard even to be vegetarian. You'd go to health food stores and there'd be veggie meat products and they were not very tasty. They might have been good for your body, but they were bad for your soul. And there was confusion about vegetarianism, that it meant steamed vegetables with no seasoning. That's not how I cook. I have 15 wonderful dishes that all use ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper. Food should taste good. Go to Real Food Daily-tastes pretty good to me.

Your character Hiram Gunderson on the HBO show Six Feet Under was an environmentalist. Did you have something to do with that?

The producers have to own that whole thing of Hiram driving an electric car. I can't own it on 7th Heaven either. It was [producer] Brenda Hampton who asked me can I get a Prius so that the Camden family can drive one. The producers of Six Feet Under asked me, can you drive your electric car that day, it will be in the background. It was my car, it was their idea. I take some credit, being part of EMA [Environmental Media Association] and Earth Communications Office who got these messages out in movies and TV shows over the years. The great thing about EMA and groups like that, is that there's not time to go door-to-door with this information.

Have you experienced any backlash in Hollywood for your political activism?

There was some, according to my agents and manager back in the early '90s. There was a reluctance to hire me, they thought I was trouble. My name was not on a list in a drawer somewhere, but it was like, 'Oh, yeah, Ed for that part. Hm. Who else do you have?'

How do you feel that you as a public figure can make a difference?

I think there is a big plus to getting the word out on issues if you have the spotlight in some way. If you're a famous person and you have opportunity to use that for a good cause, I think that's a good thing. There's also a great responsibility that comes with that. You can't be [affecting surfer-dude accent], 'Dude, we're poisoning ourselves, man, it's really bad and all our kids are dying and there's no hope.' If you're going to talk about an issue, look at peer-reviewed studies. I listen to people with Ph.D. after the name.

But people say, why don't you just shut up, you're a performer, what do you know. I can't do that. The reason I can't do that is because I'm about to go on stage and the fire marshal has tapped me on the shoulder-'Ed, there's a smoldering fire, it's very small, we don't want to freak people out, but before you do your song and dance, could you please evacuate the rows?' How can I not share that message when the fire marshal has told me what's happening? And the fire marshal is the Union of Concerned Scientists. The fire marshal is NOAA [National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration]. James Hanson from NASA, he's one of the fire marshals too.