'Entourage' star Adrian Grenier talks social good with Dell

AUSTIN - When Dell named Adrian Grenier its first Social Good Advocate, it picked the perfect poster boy - but not for his good looks.

The Entourage star is neck deep in eco-based good works, from '52: The Lonely Whale (a campaign to raise awareness for ocean noise pollution) to Shft.com (a content platform advocating sustainability through film, design, art and food) and Alter Eco (a Discovery channel project about eco-friendly, sustainable lifestyle changes).

That made him an ideal ambassador for Dell in its goal to address "ever-increasing resource strains and increasing demands for technology." Its 2020 Legacy of Good initiative is part of an overall company push for responsible recycling, and to help Dell collect 2 billion pounds of e-waste to source plastics for new Dell products.

"We want to make conscientious consumption sexy," said Grenier, shortly after he participated on a panel at SXSW here. "We want to stay on message about beat it (eco-friendly thinking) into people's heads."

The 38-year-old actor/filmmaker/entrepreneur - ironically - was the epitome of conspicuous consumption as Vince Chase, the lead character in Entourage.

Off-screen, he is spreading and living the gospel of green. He uses shredded jeans for insulation, for instance.

"Some celebs pay lip service to a cause, but you later discover they don't f--- about it," he said. "You have to know the cause."

The concern is real: Over the next 30 years, the global population is expected to add 3 billion people to the middle class, stretching thin the environment.

Dell says it chose Grenier in what amounts to a new corporate title because of his good works. At least one exec said he knew Grenier more as a social activist than as an actor.

"We chose the best ambassador for what is such an important issue for us," says Elizabeth Gore, Dell's entrepreneur-in-residence.

Just what Dell does with its newest employee isn't exactly clear, though Grenier mentioned the possibility of working on apps with the computer maker.

One thing Grenier doesn't envision is a change in the consumption habits of Vince in the forthcoming Entourage movie. "He went from driving a Hummer to a Tesla," he says, chuckling. "But that's about it."