Leonardo DiCaprio loves to bang the drum about the importance of saving the planet - but he’s wasting plenty of trees to get his message out

Leonardo DiCaprio loves to bang the drum about the importance of saving the planet - but he’s wasting plenty of trees to get his message out
In March, The Post reported how the “Blood Diamond” star so hated unsolicited, paper-wasting pitches showing up in his mailbox, he and fellow environmentalist Adrian Grenier joined a movement to establish a national “Do Not Mail Registry.” The campaign, spearheaded by environmental group ForestEthics, urges Americans to sign a petition demanding the government make it possible for citizens to ban junk mail, much as telephone cold-callers were stopped with 2003’s “Do Not Call Registry.”

But it turns out DiCaprio isn’t so vigilant when it comes to making sure his own pitches reach the public. This week, freelance writer Philip Recchia received in the mail a big envelope with DiCaprio’s name on the return address space, soliciting donations for the Natural Resource Defense Council’s “Polar Bear S.O.S.” campaign.

Inside the envelope were a one-page pitch letter from DiCaprio and a two-page pitch letter from NRDC president Frances Beinecke; a flyer for a free “Save the Polar Bear!” tote bag; a donation form/petition to the secretary of the interior, urging him to protect the polar bear as an endangered species; and a return envelope.

“I wonder if Leo knows he’s part of the paper problem. He was among the ‘green’ celebs criticized last year for flying around in private jets,” Recchia points out.

But DiCaprio’s flack, Ken Sunshine, who also reps the NRDC, makes no apologies. “Guilty as charged!” he told Page Six, adding the star’s “environmental commitment is unending.”

More than 25,000 people have signed the petition, including Daryl Hannah and Alicia Silverstone. More than 1 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered in the US each year.

(source)

Published 7/10/08 by

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