These five celebrities are working toward a more eco-friendly future.
By Elisa Fernández-Arias
Celebrity activists are fighting to change the world, using their stardom and huge fanbases to get people to become involved in saving the planet… one sustainable venture at a time. These five caught our attention.
1. Billie Eilish
Profession: Singer, actor
Instagram Followers: 109 Million
Age: 21
Wants to Save: The Earth
Billie Eilish, the pop star with over 100 million Instagram followers and more than 50 million listeners on Spotify, uses her popularity to build awareness about climate change. In addition to being vocal about the issue, Eilish partnered with the eco-friendly music nonprofit REVERB to make her 2022 world tour more climate positive — eliminating single-use plastics, offering plant-based concessions, selling merchandise made from upcycled materials and more.
2. Chris Hemsworth
Profession: Actor
Instagram Followers: 56.3 Million
Age: 39
Wants to Save: The Oceans
Chris Hemsworth is passionate about saving the world’s oceans. He and his wife, Elsa Pataky, have been associated with the clean ocean life nonprofit Oceana since 2012. Hemsworth has also worked with Parley AIR, a nonprofit that focuses on avoiding plastic use, dealing with the problem of plastic pollution and supporting policies and innovations that address plastic pollution.
3. Shailene Woodley
Profession: Actor
Instagram Followers: 4.8 Million
Age: 31
Wants to Save: The Environment
The actor Shailene Woodley is passionate about various green causes. She worked with the nonprofit Conservation International on a deforestation video, Nature Is Speaking: Shailene Woodley is Forest, and she was also arrested when protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, the construction of which, according to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, violated the Fort Laramie Treaty, which states that the reservation lands that surround the pipeline’s proposed location have the guarantee of “undisturbed use and occupation.” In 2016, Woodley received the Female EMA Futures Award from the Environmental Media Association for her activism relating to climate change, the pipeline and other political issues.
4. Jaden Smith
Profession: Rapper, Singer, Actor and Model
Instagram Followers: 19.6 Million
Age: 24
Wants to Provide: Clean Water
Jaden Smith, the rapper, actor and model, is an activist who has made great strides in renewability. In fact, the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA honored him for his efforts in environmental justice and fighting to provide safe, clean water to the underprivileged. Smith co-founded the water brand JUST Water, which uses sustainably-sourced water and plant-based packaging. Additionally, he has deployed mobile water filtration systems to primarily lower-income, historically marginalized communities such as the community of Flint, Michigan through his nonprofit, 501CTHREE.
5. Emma Watson
Profession: Actor, Model, Activist
Instagram Followers: 70.3 Million
Age: 32
Wants to Provide: Sustainable Fashion
The actor Emma Watson is a sustainable fashion activist who created the eco-wardrobe collection, Pure Threads with the Italian designer Alberta Ferreri. In 2017, she created the Press Tour Instagram account to document her eco-friendly outfits and encourage her followers to be green with their fashion choices. Watson has also pledged her support for the app, Good On You, which provides information on the sustainability and ethical practices of many fashion brands. In addition, she joined the Board of Directors of Kerig in 2020 as Chair of the Sustainability Committee.