Community Corner

Patch Picks: Our Top Five 'Green' Celebrities

We give a rundown of our favorite advocates for the environment.

Earth Day couldn't be a success without the help of star-power: celebrities using their platforms to promote environmental-awareness far and wide. With that in mind, we here at Patch put together a list of our favorite "green" celebrities. Fittingly, three of the five we chose come from the mind of Jim Henson, himself and avowed nature lover and environmentalist.

Name: Oscar the Grouch
Occupation: Public Television Celebrity

Who better to lead off than Oscar the Grouch? The furry green monster who lives in a trashcan once told Michael Jackson that he “happens to like trash.” Sesame Street’s resident curmudgeon, however, has undergone an apparent change-of-heart. He is now an advocate for switching to florescent light bulbs – and properly disposing those bulbs once they burn out – lent his face to Canada’s yearly “Waste Reduction Week” and, in September, made an appearance in South Orange to teach children about recycling. Even for a trash-lover, there can be too much of a good thing.

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Name: Yoda
Occupation: Jedi Master, Jedi Order of the Galactic Republic

Yoda never speaks explicitly of the environment in any of the "Star Wars" movies. Instead, his discussions of nature center on The Force: 

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“Life creates it, makes it grow,” he tells a pre-Jedi Luke Skywalker during "The Empire Strikes Back." “Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel The Force around you; here, between you, me the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes.” 

Yoda’s faith in a mystical power that pervades all things – both living and inanimate – reflects an abiding respect for the environment around him (no matter the planet), making him perhaps our only known intergalactic transcendentalist. 

Name: The Hulk
Occupation: Superhero, member of The Avengers 

Scientist Robert Bruce Banner gains the ability to transform into The Hulk when he is exposed to huge amounts of radiation when an experimental “Gamma Bomb” accidentally detonates, according to the Marvel comic. Although the radiation grants him great powers, most notably superhuman strength, it also diminishes his impulse control, making him more prone to fits of uncontrollable rage. It could be argued that The Hulk presents a lumbering allegory to the potential dangers of nuclear power and atomic weapons. It’s a stretch, sure, but don’t push us too hard – you don’t want to see Patch editors when we’re angry. 

Name: Fenway Park’s “Green Monster”
Occupation: Wall

The Green Monster, the 36-foot-high leftfield wall of Boston’s Fenway Park, is one of the most famous walls in the country. In truth, it has not been used to make any explicit statements about the environment, but it does house a manual scoreboard, which, we suppose, is more energy-efficient than its electronic counterparts. 

Name: Kermit the Frog
Occupation: Actor, Author, Reporter, Songwriter, Stage Manager, Director

Kermit is a walking, talking embodiment of environmental advocacy. He is a frog who grew-up in a swamp – terrain generally protected by a slew of environmental regulations – and went on to become an actor and director in Hollywood. His debut single, an ode to Rainbows, became a Top 25 hit in November 1979. And as director of “The Muppet Show” and "Muppets Tonight," he led and appeared in numerous environment-themed skits, and starred in one that was included in ABC’s two-hour “Earth Day Special” in 1990.

Recycling, composting, conserving water and energy – it's not easy being green, Kermit acknowledges, but he manages to do it all with a smile. 

Do you have a favorite green character who's demonstrated an awareness of nature and the environment? The Green Lantern, perhaps, Roger Klotz or The Grinch?


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