November/December 2008 Issue

Ecogeek Deathmatch: Ed Begley Jr. v. Bill Nye, Science Guy

Which Hollywood do-gooder has the greener crib? A no-holds-barred fight to the furnished.

Ed Begley Jr.’s solar-powered, rainwater-recycling house was the greenest in his Studio City neighborhood—until his friend Bill Nye, the erstwhile science guy, vowed to outdo him. A rundown of the competition:

Ed Begley, Jr. Bill Nye
Bill Nye Ed Begley, Jr.

Rainwater Collection Barrels

WHAT:
Use water for plants.

Nye: Ed’s barrels look funny; they’re big and red. Mine match my house.

I’ll believe it when I see it. No, wait. I’ll believe it when I don’t see it.

Begley: I’m going to get an underground cistern. It’ll be totally invisible.

Blue-Jean Insulation

WHAT:
Recycled denim treated with boric acid is safer than fiberglass.
 

Begley: I had denim first.

Windows 2.0

WHAT:
Double panes keep houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Nye: The guy who did my windows told me Ed hadn’t done all his windows. I did them all.

Begley: I started retrofitting my windows in the ’90s—and with heating and air costs, I made my money back years ago.

Patio Pergola

WHAT:
A canopy made of sustainably harvested lumber and recycled plastic insulates Nye’s patio.
 

Begley: I covet Bill’s pergola. I just have a piece of lawn furniture from the ’90s.

Solar Panels

WHAT:
PVs on the roof

Nye: The reason I have only four kilowatts is my neighbor’s sycamore tree, which provides cooling. And by the way, Ed, why don’t you clean up all those cables under your solar panels?

Begley: I have 6.5 kilowatts of solar. Bill has maybe two or three [actually four]. I applaud his effort for trying so hard and still ending up second best.

Smart Lawn

WHAT:
Both Begley and Nye have backyard vegetable gardens,
which Nye says has saved him a lot of water.

Nye: He also has an area of plastic grass. Why don’t you just pave it?

Begley: Bill has a lawn in his front yard. I just have fruit trees.

Parting Shots

Nye: I love you, man. Let’s change the world.

Begley: I’m going to crush you, Nye.
 

> Read the full interview with Bill Nye

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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