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Why It's Good:
Handsome is as handsome does? These guys look good and do good, too? Whatever. All we know is that these single guys could be spending all their free time toodling about town in fancy gas hogs, erecting tasteless and monstrous McMansions and gazing at themselves in the mirror. Instead, what they're doing is utilizing whatever patch of fame and influence they have to spearhead serious public and personal projects that aim to move the needle on environmental issues ranging from climate change to endangered species. In the name of science and truth, we conducted a completely impartial survey and ranked their efforts, and let us tell you: Their sincere motives, hard work and eco-passions make them even more attractive. As if that's even possible!
Why It's Green:
They personally drive gas-saving vehicles, green their not-so-humble abodes, eat organic. They professionally host awareness-raising television shows and documentaries about global warming, sustainable building, and the ill effects of commercial agriculture; carbon-offset their tours; and provide legal council to, yep, Da Planet. And they want you know: They think Earth girls are pretty.
Yep, We Got 'Em: America's Hottest Eco-Hunks
With so many sexy, smart and seemingly datable single men out there, you have to wonder just why they've been so unlucky in the love department. Perhaps for these 10 bachelors they've just been saving all of their affection for Mother Earth. Each has lent his time, money and talent to protect our environment and for that, we'd like to honor them all in our list of the country's top 10 eco-bachelors. Check out our healthy helping of eco-eye candy.—Megan O'Neill
1. Leonardo DiCaprio
Before this "king of the world" even turned 20, he'd already had a short stint on the family-favorite sitcom Growing Pains, a breakthrough role in This Boy's Life, which co-starred Robert DeNiro, and an Academy Award nomination for his role opposite Johnny Depp in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. When he's not tooling around Hollywood lots of soon-to-be nominated films, you can probably find him in his Prius, on his Vectrix Electric Scooter, or at home greening his pad—he recently purchased a $3,200 eco-friendly toilet and a swank eco-friendly condo in NYC! But Leo didn't just buy his way into the eco world: He established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation back in 1998 and has produced and narrated 2007's The 11th Hour, a documentary about climate change that featured noted environmental experts. His latest venture, a program called Greensburg, (which he produced for the Discovery Channel's Planet Green eco cable station) chronicles the rehabilitation of a Kansas town that was wiped out by a tornado in May of 2007, into a model of sustainability and conservation.
2. Edward Norton
Though he plays somewhat menacing, terrifying and twisted characters in his most loved movies—American History X (a homicidal neo-Nazi) and Fight Club (an anti-consumerism activist with a split personality)—you can't help but be comforted by Norton's puppy-dog eyes (or impressed by his fighting physique). Though the actor has been nominated twice for an Academy Award and he won a Golden Globe for American History X, he's not satisfied with simply starring in films: He was the host of the four-part National Geographic series Strange Days on Planet Earth, which aired on PBS this April and has successfully campaigned with the Friends of the Highline organization to save and rebuild much-needed green space in his adopted hometown of New York City.
3. George Clooney
After catapulting to super stardom during the 1990s on the Thursday night drama ER and placing successful films like Batman and Robin and Ocean's Eleven under his belt, he has become a champion of sustainable energy as well. Clooney works to raise awareness of and decrease our dependence on oil—when he's not saving Darfur or acting as the recently appointed United Nations Messenger of Peace, that is. During his downtime from promoting peace, he's said to be working with the watch brand Olympus to create a cheap and efficient fuel cell engine that could one day be an automobile component. Until the fuel cell is finished, Clooney has been lowering his carbon footprint by rolling around Hollywood in his electric engine Tango car. Only a confident man like he would dream of driving around such an image-conscious town in the tiny clown car (though he did order the sexy and sporty, $100,000 electric Tesla Roadster—maybe looks do matter).
4. Adrian Grenier
With his soulful doe eyes, wavy locks, and casual and confident swagger (plus the occasional scruff of facial hair) this Entourage star was born to free-thinking parents who met on a commune. As a result, Grenier's green habits were ingrained at an early age and have only flourished. When he’s on the East Coast, he stays in his eco-home in Brooklyn, which he greened himself using recycled denim insulation, solar panels and reclaimed oak floors. Back in L.A., he drives a Prius and has been credited with attempting to eco-educate his friend Paris Hilton (guess this good deed makes up for his misguided choice in pals). He also stars in a show for Discovery's Planet Green called Alter Eco, where he demonstrates that the entourage lifestyle can be eco, too.
5. Adam Levine
As the voice of the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum pop band Maroon 5, Levine really has a way with a love song—and with the ladies. Maybe it's the tight pants, or perhaps the piercing gaze, though our bets are on the common infatuation women have with sexy lead singers. For their 2007 world tour, Levine's band teamed up with Global Cool, a UK charity organization that promotes sustainability and energy efficiency, in an attempt to green as many aspects of their trek as possible—including driving around in a biodiesel tour bus when possible. They also used $1 from every ticket purchased on the US leg of the tour to cover the cost of offsetting any remaining CO2 emissions. Back in 2006, Maroon 5 was given the Environmental Media Award's Futures Award for their eco-efforts and they also helped launch the Nuke Free campaign, which worked to remove loan guarantees for the building of new nuclear power plants from Congress' Energy Bill.
6. Kelly Slater
Nothing says sexy like a surfer six-pack—especially a professional wave-rider with eight world titles and 36 career wins under his swim trunks. The green-eyed Floridian has won the world title multiple times, is the star of a surfing video game, and acted in several episodes of Baywatch, all while dating and befriending many a model and actress, making him a living legend in the surf world. For Slater and many other surfers, the sport and environmental awareness go hand in hand, as surfing brings wave riders closer to nature and its power than most people will ever venture. He has donated his time to the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit that helps fight coastal pollution, and has also worked with the Carbon Fund to offset the carbon emissions he amasses while traveling with the pro tour in search of the perfect wave (and his next trophy). Slater even established an annual tournament, the Kelly Slater Invitational in Fiji, which raises public awareness of and funds for the continued preservation efforts of the area’s coral reefs, with proceeds going to the Reef Watch organization.
7. Josh Bernstein
As the former host of the History Channel's highest rated program, Digging for the Truth, Bernstein amassed an amazing female following—and we're guessing it wasn't the ancient ruins and archaeological digs that kept so many viewers tuning in. Sure, they were interesting and educational, but not as easy on the eyes as the host's gleaming grin. This adventure-seeking anthropologist is also the president of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School in Boulder, Colorado, which teaches men and women to navigate the dangers of the wilderness without the aid of technology. Back when he was growing up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Bernstein used to trek downtown to the organic market and often brought organic soup in a thermos to school for lunch, which may have pegged him as a bit odd in the pre-Whole Foods days. Now seen as an ecological educator, he helps inform people about the need to preserve areas of the world that most will never visit.
8. John Legend
The 29-year-old R&B singer, songwriter, and accomplished pianist has already won five Grammy awards and big-time critical acclaim for ballads like "Ordinary People" and "Heaven." As the 2007 spokesman for GQ magazine's Gentlemen's Fund—a program that promotes what the publication calls the "five cornerstones essential to men": health, education, justice, opportunity, and the environment—Legend has helped raise awareness on environmental issues and offered support for the Green Fund charity. Last year, he also performed at Live Earth in London and established the Show Me Campaign, an organization that aids poverty-stricken African villages by teaching their residents sustainable development skills.
9. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis
They look like corn-fed kids from the Midwest, but Cheney and Ellis became best friends as students on the East Coast at Yale University. During their college years, they often tried to get their classmates to reconnect with their food by bringing freshmen orientees on trips to local organic farms, working to bring local food to the dining halls—and through lighthearted pranks like releasing sheep on campus. After graduation, Ellis and Cheney decided to take their message to a larger audience by producing and starring in the documentary King Corn. For the film, which aired on PBS this April, the friends moved to corn country in Iowa and raised an acre of America's most-subsidized grain.
10. James Birkelund
Not all lawyers are bad; when he's not out exploring the world (his favorite destination is South East Asia, though he's been everywhere from Australia to Zimbabwe), Birkelund is working to save it as an attorney with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The beach babe also enjoys communing with the natural world he strives to preserve by surfing near his home in Santa Monica, California. Birkelund has been a part of cases encompassing a variety of eco-issues, from endangered species litigation to open space preservation and marine mammal protection. Currently, he's working on a case that would protect the California Condor from lead-ammunition poisoning that is occurring when the birds ingest lead fragments found in carcasses that have been shot by hunters. He's hoping the state will pass a law that requires hunters to use non-lead ammunition when hunting.
