You’d never know it, but these celebrities (and one ill-reputed politician) are passionate about conservation and protecting the environment.

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

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Pierce Brosnan is best known as James Bond, but he really loves the environment. He is on the board of the California Coastal Protection Network and the Natural Resources Defence Council, and he and his wife have been inducted into the Environmental Hall of Fame.

President Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Despite his reputation, Nixon had a surprisingly green administration. He set up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), passed the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act, and he banned the insecticide DDT. So he was more than just a crook.

Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams
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Producer and rapper Pharrell might have a cheeky, carefree image onstage, but offstage, most of his entrepreneurial endeavours have an environmental bent. He became joint owner and brand ambassador for Bionic Yarn, which turns plastic bottles into yarn.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

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Harrison Ford does some pretty standard environmental work as a vice chairman for Conservation International, but he also takes a page out of many of his action films. He often patrols the Hudson River in New York to bring polluters to the authorities’ attention.

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett

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Like most of the people on this list, Cate Blanchett has ensured her mansion is as green as possible (the problems of some people, huh?). More than that, though, she also is an ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation, and she actively supports SolarAid, a British charity that brings renewable energy to impoverished people in developing countries.

Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver

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We all know Jamie’s all about fresh, seasonal produce: he’s even set up a campaign to get us using less popular fish to give overfished populations a chance to recover. But he walks the walk as well as talking the talk. His show “Jamie’s American Road Trip” was the world’s first carbon neutral television show. Not bad for a show about driving around the whole of America.

Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz

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Before hybrid cars were as normal as they are today, Penelope Cruz was an early adopter and evangeliser. When the 2007 Oscars rolled around, she was instrumental in ensuring that 30 of the vehicles that shuttled the stars around were powered by alternative sources of fuel.

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom

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Orlando Bloom is more about making changes in his own life than he is about preaching to others. Still, he has made a lot of changes. His house includes loads of solar panels, which help provide power to his plug-in hybrid car. He also launched Global Cool, an eco-friendly lifestyle organisation and website.

Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek

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Salma Hayek has stopped acting so much because she has found a calling as someone who generally wants to help make the world a better place. The environment, then, is just one of many causes she tirelessly works for. She is on the board of Global Green USA, the American arm of Green Cross International.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

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Natalie Portman is very outspoken about her vegetarianism and her belief in animal rights, but she’s also passionate about various environmental causes. In 2007, she filmed the documentary “Gorillas on the Brink” about the plight of the primates in Rwanda.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal

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Jake Gyllenhaal puts his money where his eco-mouth is: he has claimed to donate at least $400 a year to plant trees in forests in Mozambique. He has also gone to the Artic to raise awareness of climate change. Along with Global Green USA, he launched the National Green Schools initiative, too.

Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams

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Rachel McAdams, star of many a rom-com, has a love affair with the planet. She is regularly spotted cycling around Toronto, and when she’s not filming, she participates in various environmental activities. She helped clean up the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, worked on Matter of Trust’s “hair boom” efforts to help clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and she supported Foodstock, a protest against a mega quarry in Canada. She has also narrated “Take Me to the River”, a documentary about efforts to protect iconic rivers.

 

Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller

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Sienna Miller has a reputation as a party girl, but she’s serious about the environment. Along with her sister, she ensures their label, Twenty8Twelve, is carbon neutral, and like Orlando above, she is an ambassador for Global Cool.

Robert Redford

Robert Redford

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Given how much time he has spent outdoors in his films, perhaps it’s not surprising that Robert Redford is an environmentalist. He has campaigned to increase the use of solar power, to raise awareness of climate change and to preserve parts of the wilderness in his beloved Utah. He has dedicated much of the programming on the Sundance Channel to green issues, and the Sundance Resort, where he screens the Sundance Film Festival, has been dedicated to environmental conservation since it was built.

Who knew these celebs were so interested in the environment? What other celebrities do you know who have surprising passions aside from their normal entertainment work?

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