Fighting the good fight for the environment

Alicia Silverstone, played the title character in the movie, but there is nothing Clueless about this week’s eco-celebrity. The ‘nude vegetarian’ and author of the book The Kind Diet poses pointed and thought-provoking questions about health, diet and the environment whenever she’s given the chance.

She’s one of our favorite eco-ambassadors because she’s fearless sharing her answers to those tough questions.

Baring it all for animals

In the well-publicized PETA campaign, Silverstone posed naked to garner support for a vegan lifestyle. Silverstone’s lead concern may be animal cruelty, but that’s only the beginning. Silverstone pursues a an increasingly green lifestyle, living in an eco-friendly house, wearing animal-free clothing and paying tireless attention to the products she purchases.

She pays the most attention to her diet though. Says Silverstone, “I can’t stress enough the connection between what goes on your plate and what’s going on in the planet.” An avid supporter of the local diet movement, she composts, grows her own produce and buys locally grown, in season food as a matter of principle.

Rise of the local food movement

In North American an average meal travels 2,400 km to get from farm to fork. And the environmental cost of shipping our food products is not just felt in global warming. Buying locally grown produce reduces the need for packaging and encourages the preservation of local farmland. More local green space means a cleaner living environment for us all.

Locally grown produce can be cultivated, selected and harvested to maximize on nutrition, freshness and taste rather than ensuring the longest possible shelf life.

A healthy lifestyle’s her top priority.

“At some point in your life you have to decide if it’s important to you to feel great everyday,” Silverstone commented. Silverstone’s own health regime includes a vegan diet, a personal devotion to meditation and a commitment to better sleep habits .

“I’m working on creating a boundary of how to rest and how to relax. It’s really easy for me to do it, once I know I’m allowed to do it. I think sleep is very important.”

She credits this lifestyle for her trimmed down physique and obvious vitality. No kidding.

Do you believe that your choices have an impact on the environment? Do celebrity choices influence greener choices in your life?

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