For the Mother Nature

This World Environment Day, let’s get inspired from our environment enthusiast celebs who with their endeavour joined hands with nature to make this world a better place, writes

et’s face it.We hardly think about global warming, deforestation or depleting natural sources.The truth is we don’t give a damn about such issues unless we see a post on social media related to apocalypse or arriving giant tsunami.We are happily breathing the toxic air, spending uncountable hours under radiation and munching on chemically processed food, all this has unfortunately has degraded our ‘modern lifestyle’ at a greater extent. But among the bunch of carless people, there are some star environment enthusiasts who’ve left no stone unturned to preserve our environment.With popularity comes responsibility, and our star studded environment enthusiasts have rightly taken the onus on their shoulder to create awareness that are common but goes unnoticed by people. On this World Environmental Day, we list a few desi and firangi celebs who took a stand and used their status for all good reasons.

Priyanka Chopra

Bollywood’s desi girl who is now more than a Bollywood celebrity, she has won millions of heart not just because of her beauty and charm, but also for the social causes she has asserted unexceptionally. Priyanka Chopra supports various causes related to girl child through her ‘The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education’, along with this Priyanka is the brand ambassador of ‘Greenathon’ an initiative by by a leading news channel, that encouraged use of solar power in the villages that don’t have enough electricity supplies. Priyanka also participated in cleaning the banks of Yamuna River in Agra, for making a larger and personal impact on people and raise awareness about adverse effect of pollution and garbage affecting the Yamuna River. Priyanka was appointed by PM Modi as Navratna one of the nine nominees for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, national cleanliness drive by Indian government. In 2015, she lent her voice for PETA’s life-size robot ‘Ellie’ who visited schools in United States and Europe to educate children about elephant captivity in circus and asked people to raise their voice against circuses.

Arjun Rampal

The supermodel turned actor known for his versatile acting is also a great supporter of various social causes. He has established his own foundation for cancer patients and his foundation provides financial aid to people who cannot afford expensive cancer treatments. Arjun has been immensely involved in creating awareness regarding breast cancer. Arjun has also been associated with PETA under which he started a campaign to put a ban on horse drawn carriages in Mumbai. Recently Arjun showed his concern for environment and added another social cause in his list; he was a part of tree plantation drive in Mumbai, and an initiative by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai that planted 1,000 saplings. Arjun Rampal was accompanied by several renowned faces of Bollywood like Sunny Leone, Arshad Warsi and Pooja Batra who were gathered for implementing this noble cause.

Gul Panag

A successful actress, model-turnedpolitician and now a licensed pilot, former ‘Miss India’ Gul Panag has done everything rightly, whatever came into her way. Her presence is less in movies but her involvement in social causes is higher if compared to other actresses. Gul Panag formed her own NGO called ‘Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation’ that covers social causes including gender equality, education and disaster management. Gul has established another foundation with under her name ‘Gul 4 Change’ which tackles basic sanitation and waste management issues by offering effective employment of natural energy resources. In a bid to conserve exhaustible resources Gul Panag has created ‘Green Home’ for encouraging use of solar power and water harvesting.

Angelina Jolie

Ace Hollywood actress has done uncountable charities round-the-clock. Jolie purchased a 39 hectares house in Cambodia, in northwestern province of Battambang, adjacent to Samlout National Park which was frequently infiltrated by poachers who targeted endangered species for hunting. Jolie purchased 60,000 hectares of the park’s land and turned it into a wildlife reserve and named it ‘The Maddox-Jolie Project’. Jolie became proud patron of Harnas Wildlife Foundation, a wildlife orphanage and medical centre in Kalahari Desert. In 2010, Jolie collaborated with her estranged husband Pitt to establish ‘Shiloh-Jolie Pitt Foundation’ dedicated to promote conservation work by Naansuke Wildlife Sanctuary, nature reserve also situated in Kalahari. Jolie and Pitt have funded big amounts for large-animal conservation projects in the name of their Namibian- born daughter Shiloh Pitt.

Rahul Bose

Rahul Bose is a man with different roles, he is an actor, director, screenwriter, rugby player but above all he is also a social activist. This out-of-the box actor assisted in the relief task in the Andaman and Nicobar Island, which were severely hit by Boxing Tsunami, 2004. Bose then launched a scholarship programme for the tsunami hit children of Andaman and Nicobar Island under his NGO,‘The Foundation’. Rahul Bose is also an ambassador for American Indian Foundation and proudly works with the Planet Alert, a campaign that works on grassroots levels for conserving environment and tackling climate change. Bose hailed himself as the spokesman of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and contributed in the efforts for stalling the construction of Narmada Dam. Bose is an active member of Climate Action Network, an umbrella group of international environmental NGOs.

Emma Watson

Popularly known for her character Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, Watson has proved that she has a soft corner for environmental issues. She encourages and supports sustainable development goals by UN, advocates the need for recycling of waste and its incorporation in garments. Watson also urged everyone to opt for organic garments made from organic fabrics which are eco-friendly and causes less damage to environment.

Matt Damon

Another compelling and versatile actor Matt Damon, is one of the highest grossing actors of all time. Damon has given back so much to society by supporting various social causes. Damon established his own foundation H2O Africa Foundation, to raise awareness about clean water in African countries that do not have access to safe drinking water. In 2009, Damon’s foundation joined hands with Water Partners and together formed Water.org an online platform that is dedicated to implement huge water projects in different developing nations.

Leonardo DiCaprio

When it comes to environment issues Leonardo is the first celebrity name that comes first to mind. In 1998, after the success of Titanic, Leo formed his own NGO called ‘Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’ solely for promoting environmental awareness. His foundation emphasises on global warming, preserving biodiversity and supporting renewable energy. His foundation has worked in over in 40 countries. Leo bagged the Environmental Leadership Award in 2003 and 2014. Leo was also appointed as representative of the United Nations for Climate change. The Revenant actor actively shares his views on his environmental activities on social media and keeps his fans updated.