Vincent Kartheiser attends the 2010 Freedom Awards at the Redondo Beach Peforming Arts Center on Nov. 7 in Redondo Beach, Calif.Jesse Grant
Pete Campbell might be procreating on Mad Men, but he won't be doing so in real life. It's better for the planet.
Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Campbell on the hit TV show, appeared on MSNBC Wednesday to discuss his green choices, one of which is not having children.
"I've been a vegetarian for four years and I have chosen not to have children, which are both green choices in my life," he said.
The whole kids and the environment debate has been going on for some time now. As Mother Jones argued last year: "The bottom line is that absolutely nothing else you can do - driving a more fuel efficient car, driving less, installing energy-efficient windows, replacing light bulbs, replacing refrigerators, recycling - comes even close to simply not having that child."
The debate even found it's way in to Freedom, the new novel by Jonathan Franzen, in which one character sets up a foundation to advocate the idea.
Kartheiser's other green choices include no longer driving and not using a toilet. Okay, maybe not having a toilet isn't an environmental choice. It's just a weird choice. As he told the UK's Observer earlier this year, "I don't have a toilet at the moment. My house is just a wooden box. I mean I am planning to get a toilet at some point. But for now I have to go to the neighbours. I threw it all out."
What do you think: Is opting not to have kids a good environmental choice?
Dave McGinn