An eco-friendly Leo, lookin' smug...

So apparently celebrities have taken to assuaging their environmental consciences by buying entire forests. In order to offset the CO2 emissions they produce with their Hollywood lifestyles, Elijah Wood, Jake Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio and a bunch of other actors pay other people to plant trees for them.

Future Forests "calculated that Leonardo produces 11 tonnes of the 'greenhouse gas' carbon dioxide, from his cars and home and travel, per year. This is approximately half the CO2 emissions produced by the average U.S. citizen in one year. Leonardo has chosen to reflect his Carbon Neutral Citizenship by having trees planted, by Future Forests, in Mexico. In addition to planting trees, Leonardo is also participating in alternative energy resources; a micro-hydro dam in Germany and in Biomass Gasifiers in India.

Future Forests is establishing Leonardo DiCaprio forests in four locations around the globe: Mexico, India, North America and Europe. You too can have trees planted in these same forests, by dedicating trees to offset your CO2 emissions."

Okay, so this scheme is ridiculous for a lot of obvious reasons. But in a twisted way, there's an argument to be made that these actors are in fact "carbon neutral," since those forests wouldn't be there without them. Even though they're living their nutty fantasy lifestyles, they've done something to balance things out. Which is more than I can say for myself.

Posted by matt at February 2, 2004 04:24 PM