Ian Somerhalder

Ian Somerhalder

Ian Somerhalder: actor and environmentalist is joined us for Earth Day on the Jim Brickman Show!

Listen to Jim’s interview with Ian here!

JB: Well, you guys probably know him as Damon from The Vampire Diaries on the CW, but Ian Somerhalder is also an enviromentalist, and he is here to talk to us about a new campaign to find innovative ways to cut down on your energy use. 

IS: Thanks for having me on the show.

JB: So you’re really involved in environmental issues…tell us a little bit about why that’s important to you.

IS: Environmental issues are incredibly important I think because of the fact they affect our present and they’re gonna affect our future, and if I can leverage entertainment value and use social media and media together to create quantifiable global change, then I think I’ve done something I really want to do in this world.

JB: So tell us about this initiative that helps people learn how to cut down on their energy use.

IS: There’s three main components, right? Unplugging. 23% of the energy that goes into homes and is used is by devices that aren’t even on…the other big big big one is lighting. At least switching your house or business out to LEDs– LEDs are 25% more efficient and last 25 times longer, so that’s really a no brainer, in that respect. And another big one, which is the big energy and big money saving one, is the time of use. When you’re using these big devices that require a tremendous amount of energy…if you use them before 4 PM and after 9 PM, you’re lessening the stress on the grid. Cause in those peak hours the grid has to switch over to wildly dirty fossil fuel-generated power.

JB: We’re staying with Ian Somerhalder from the Vampire Diaries, we’ve got a lot to talk to him about next on the Jim Brickman show.

Listen to part two of Jim’s interview with Ian here!

JB: So for those who may not know, Ian, why is it so important to cut down on energy use?

IS: Cutting back on energy use now, in 2018, is a big deal. Because there are carbon commissions [that match the fact that] our population is only growing, so our need for transporation, and building, and home use is only going to go up. Instilling these simple practices in our everyday use now, passing them on to our children, our coworkers, our businesses, this is how we make the greatest stride in energy efficiency.

JB: And what does that give us?

IS: So driving up air quality, driving down pollution-related healthcare costs, increasing outside public activity and driving innovation? I cannot think of a better reason that this won’t work. And if you go to energyupgradeca.org, you’ll find all this information.