Ed’s commitment to the environment is very well documented but I would like to mention some other work that he has done. He has served as Chairman of the Environmental Media Association and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. He serves on the boards of organizations including the Thoreau Institute, the Earth Communications Office, TreePeople and Friends of the Earth. His work has earned awards from numerous environmental groups including the California League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Coalition for Clean Air, Heal the Bay, the Santa Monica Bay Keepers and SCGC, Southern California Gas Company.

Currently he is the costar of the hit HGTV series ‘Living with Ed’ which looks at the day-to-day realities of living green with his not so environmental wife Rachelle Carson.

AF: Ed, how do you think movies can make a difference for the planet?

EB: Films have influenced the popular culture for many years, often for the good and certainly sometimes to the detriment,. I would suggest, with films that have promoted consumerism and excess. There has been a move that I have been involved with since 1970 to promote more responsibility with the way we purchase things. Environmental stewardship is the reason the Earth Cinema Circle is so important. We don’t have time to go door-to-door with these pressing matters, whether it be ocean pollution, the way we grow our food, air pollution or many other issues that Earth Cinema Circle deals with. People need to get informed and historically that happens very effectively with documentaries.

AF: Why are you involved?

EB: Well, you know I got involved because I have a long standing relationship with Gaiam and with Real Goods, two companies, promoting sustainability, that merged many years ago. John Schaeffer (founder of Real Goods) is a friend of mine. For years I have been looking to have those kinds of films, promoting sustainability, together in a series, in a set where people could get them and learn about a myriad of different issues that are important to us all.

AF: What was the moment of truth when you first committed to the environmental movement?

EB: It was in 1970, it was the first Earth Day and I just wanted to get involved. It seemed like an important thing to do. Keep in mind what came before. We had the Cuyahoga River catching fire in Ohio. It’s not good when the rivers catch fire. We had very bad air pollution that I grew up in the 50s and 60s, and by 1970 it really hadn’t gotten any better. So the big moment was Earth Day.

With the horrible smog in LA, I had trouble breathing as a young man and I am not an asthmatic nor was I then and when you have trouble breathing you are going to want to do something about it and we did something and now look at the success. We haven’t cleaned up the air totally in LA, but we have four times amount of cars in LA, yet we have half of the pollution, half of the ozone and other pollutant at ground level that are such a problem.

So we can do it. We have climbed halfway up the mountain and with more awareness, we can go all the way to the top and clean up the urban cities like LA.

AF: What do you think are the top five things an individual can do that will have the biggest impact on the environment?

EB: There are so many things a person can do and I urge everybody to pick the low hanging fruit. It’s fine if you have the budget to do big things, to get solar panels or an electric car or hybrid car, but those are big-ticket items. You don’t run up Mount Everest. You get to base camp, you get acclimated and you start small.

The first thing you do, you would get an energy saving light bulb, and those are very efficient. Next thing you might just get out of your car. It could mean walking more, if you live in a neighborhood, as I do, with plenty of things to walk to.

You might ride a bike if weather and fitness permits. You might take public transportation, if it’s available near you.

You might get an energy saving thermostat. You might grow some fruits or vegetables in your front or backyard, if you have a piece of dirt to call your own or if you don’t, become part of a community garden. If there is no community garden near you, start one.

Those are five cheap and easy things you can do that anybody on a budget can do. Anybody can afford public transportation. Nearly anyone can afford a bicycle, a light bulb. For those that can’t afford a light bulb they have light bulb give away programs at many utilities now. So start small and build and then you can go from there and do some medium ticket items and big ticket items one day.

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