After signing on as a member of the board of trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1999, David began holding influential eco-salons in her home to educate the leading lights of Hollywood, persuading them to open both their minds and their pocketbooks. She has since helped to raise millions of dollars for green organizations and convinced everyone from Tom Hanks to Jack Black to hoist the environmental cause up the flagpole of mega-stardom. And she has worked to promote fuel efficiency among the masses by producing catchy anti-SUV ads for the Detroit Project, a campaign she cofounded with Arianna Huffington.
Still, David is the first to admit that her mainstream brand of environmentalism does not require sacrificing a Hollywood standard of living. Though she wouldn't be caught dead driving anything with lower gas mileage than a Prius, she offers no apologies for her super-sized house, her extensive wardrobe, or her frequent-flyer lifestyle. It's time, she says, for environmentalism to lose its purer-than-thou attitude.