11 of Our Favorite Eco-Conscious Celebrities and Famous Families

We just can’t help it… when we find out a celebrity is eco-conscious in some way, it makes us love them a little bit more. Whether they found a sustainable brand, work with a climate initiative, promote sustainable living or eating a plant-based diet, or participate in climate change protests, celebrity platforms hold a lot of power to inspire their fans to follow in their footsteps and start living more sustainably.

So, we rounded up 11 of our favorite eco celebrities and famous families out there, all of whom use their voices to advocate for the planet in different ways.

The entire Smith family has used their platforms to make the Earth a better place. Jaden Smith started the philanthropic I Love You truck, which serves vegan food to people in need; he also founded boxed water company JUST Water with help from his dad, Will. Will also hosts the new National Geographic series Welcome to Earth.

Jaden and Willow both performed at the major 2019 climate strike in NYC, and Jada Pinkett Smith founded Hey Humans, a cruelty-free, vegan, and plastic-free personal care line sold at Target.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has invested in a number of and lab-grown meat companies and other sustainable projects, he has made significant donations to various relief and conservation funds, he has used his voice to speak out against climate change on numerous occasions, and so much more.

Billie Eilish is an outspoken vegan who recently helped convince Oscar de la Renta to go fur-free. Eilish also implemented a number of awesome sustainability initiatives on her 2022 “Happier Than Ever” tour, as per Brightly.

Eilish’s brother and music partner Finneas, and their mother, actress Maggie Baird, are vegan as well, and Baird founded Support + Feed in the beginning of the pandemic to provide free vegan meals to frontline workers and people in need.

This year, Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation pledged to donate $15 million to organizations fighting for climate justice. Additionally, her popular, cruelty-free beauty line Fenty has embraced sustainability in a number of ways, such as offering refills for products, and designing products to eliminate the need for cotton rounds.

Glee actress and dancer Heather Morris constantly uses her platform on social media to talk about her passion for honoring the Earth, as well as her sustainable living habits. “I LOVE that it’s actually cool to live sustainably and you’re deemed considerably NOT COOL if you don’t live environmentally-consciously,” Morris told Green Matters for our Green Routine series.

Anne Hathaway has publicly spoken about her zero-waste journey on multiple occasions, and she has also worked on efforts to make her film sets more sustainable. Hathaway is also a huge supporter of sustainable fashion, and during one press tour, she purposely wore only vintage and eco-friendly styles.

Rosario Dawson appeared in the Netflix documentary Kiss the Ground, about how regenerative agriculture can help restore the planet; she has spoken out about the importance of climate justice; and she has worked with Green America in support of Climate Victory Gardens.

Dawson also eats a predominantly plant-based diet along with her vegan partner, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Booker was an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, has worked on a number of other pro-environment policies, and has called out the dangers of the animal agriculture system.

Actress Jane Fonda has been a passionate social justice activist for decades. In 2019, she moved to D.C. and founded Fire Drill Fridays, inspired by Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future. Every Friday, Fonda, fellow protestors, and a number of celebrity guests would protest outside the U.S. Capitol demanding stronger environmental policies, for which she was arrested multiple times. Fonda also pledged to stop buying new clothes for the rest of her life, as a statement against consumerism and how it impacts the planet.

We stan power couple Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder. Nikki Reed has her own recycled jewelry brand called Bayou With Love, she has worked with various sustainability and animal rights organizations, and she partnered with Loci to start her own line of sustainable vegan sneakers. “I have such an appreciation for style and fashion, but I also care so deeply about the planet, so I am incredibly particular about the products I wear and personally create,” she told Green Matters in an interview.

And together, Somerhalder and Reed spearheaded the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, which has worked to “positively impact the planet and its creatures” for over a decade. Sadly, the foundation is being dissolved in 2022.

"We only have one chance at this really, and we've only got one home," model and Batwoman actress Wallis Day told Green Matters in an interview. "We have to protect our wildlife and where we live." Day is a vegan, and often encourages her followers to go vegan for the planet and the animals.

"There is nowhere to hide from global warming. Expanding fossil fuel development into our last remaining wild ecosystems will destroy the remnants of our natural heritage and trigger even more climate disruption," singer-songwriter Carole King wrote in a 2013 op-ed for Huff Post. The 80-year-old "Beautiful" singer has been a proponent for clean energy, and has advocated to protect forests from logging, for many decades now.

Green Matters’ new book, Green Living, is the perfect guide to living an eco-friendly lifestyle for people at every stage of the process. You can order Green Living here.