Vegetarian Star

Photo: Phil Cavali

Think being vegetarian is only easy if you live in NYC or Cali?

Ha!

Leilani Munter proves that wrong, as she and her husband reside in North Carolina and have no problem finding good grub.

From TheGoodLifer:

Now, you are a devoted vegetarian living in Cornelius, North Carolina. How do you make that work? I imagine many post-race dinners and such are held in some not so veg-friendly establishments?

“We cook a lot at home but I have actually found that pretty much any restaurant you go to these days has something vegetarian on their menu. In the rare event where there is not a vegetarian meal on the menu, if you ask the chef, they will usually whip up something amazing. I think the chef’s enjoy it too because they get to be creative.”

You didn’t think a self professed “vegetarian  hippie chick” would let a little geography get her down, did you?

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Leilani Munter.

The self described “vegetarian hippie chick” Leilani Munter has made it to the top 10 finals in the Project Green Search, “Green It Girl” contest as a result of fans voting online.

The winner will be crowned next month in Los Angeles and will be the next “Green It Girl,” serving as a green “Miss America” that will promote environmental issues, animal and human rights.

Leilani is a race car driver, who not only advocates a vegetarian diet to protect the environment, but implements eco friendly initiatives at the race track, such as encouraging fans to leave their plastic bottles at the track that are later used to make t-shirts.

Good luck Leilani!

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Leilani Munter, professional race car driver, environmentalist and vegetarian is competing in the Project Green Search.

Voting takes place today October 12 through October 16.

The top 10 finalists go to Los Angeles November 2-8 to compete to be the next green “it girl” to advocate environment, animal welfare, fair trade and human rights.

An excerpt from Leilani’s essay at Projectgreensearch.com:

“Last year ESPN Magazine has described me as “an oxymoron: a tree hugging race car driver.” Before I was a race car driver, I was a biology graduate from the University of California in San Diego, and I am really just your typical recycling, composting, treehugging vegetarian hippie chick that just happens to drive race cars. I am an uncommon messenger in the environmental world I know, but Earl Bakken made some sense of it for me when he said…”

“By all reckoning, the bumblebee is aerodynamically unsound and shouldn’t be able to fly. Yet, the little bee gets those wings going like a turbo-jet and flies to every plant its chubby little body can land on to collect all the nectar it can hold. Bumblebees are the most persistent creatures. They don’t know they can’t fly, so they just keep buzzing around.”

Vote for Leilani and read her entire essay at projectgreensearch.com.

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Race car driver Leilani Munter spoke to pressdog.com on her top three tips to live a greener life.

Leilani’s one of those environmentalists that knows you can’t have a green planet covered with red meat, so she cites reducing your animal protein consumption as a way to improve the planet.

“Cut back on your meat intake. Grazing animals produce methane which is 21 times more heat trapping than CO2. In fact, a UN study found that 40 percent more global warming emissions come from raising animals we eat than all the world’s cars, SUVs, planes, trains, ships and all other forms of transportation. If you need another reason to cut back on meat, how about world hunger?”

“If Americans alone reduced their meat consumption by just 10%, it would free up enough land to grow 12 million tons of grain – enough to save the six million children under the age of 5 that die every year as a result of hunger. One acre of land can produce 165 pounds of beef OR 20,000 pounds of potatoes. And it takes 23 gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes. By comparison, it takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef. Meat is super wasteful. I know not everyone reading this is going to become vegetarian, but just cutting back on your meat intake can make a big difference. Maybe just give up meat for one day each week. Small steps multiplied by many can make a big difference.”

“P.S. It’s also a great way to lose weight!”

It helps to stop using plastic bags.

“We throw away between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags every year worldwide and only 1% of them are being recycled.”

Here’s another “bright” idea:

“Change your light bulbs for energy efficient bulbs and unplug your electronics when you are not using them. Cost estimates for wasted electricity ranges from $1 billion – $3.5 billion per year.”

Leilani adds a bonus:

“Can I say four instead of 3? Thanks. Recycle! It’s super easy to do and there’s no excuse to not do it.”

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Photo: Phil Cavali

Last month Leilani Munter Tweeted about grabbing some vegan grub at California Vegan Restaurant in L.A.

The NASCAR and IndyCar driver who calls herself a “vegetarian hippie chick” is an active environmentalist, so it’s no wonder she knows the best thing for the planet is to go meatless.

California Vegan has been hooking folks up in the LA region since 2003.

It has several menus, including lunch and dinner, that give the vegan eatery bragging rights with offerings such as California soy chicken, the Pepper Steak “Burger,” and Thai curries featuring all colors of the rainbow-red, yellow, and green.

You don’t hear much about celebrities dropping by California Vegan as you do with other LA vegan eateries like Real Food Daily.

Maybe now that Leilani’s giving it some press, it will become the next hotspot for the vegetarian celebrities to hang.

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Everybody’s favorite “Vegetarian Hippie Chick” in race car driving has teamed up with a company that produces eco friendly t-shirts to produce her racing merchandise.

Leilani Munter will be driving the Firestone Indy Lights car at the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway on August 29.

Ecobabble has signed up to be one of Leilani’s partners in her quest to make race car driving more environmentally friendly.

A recycle bin will be placed in Leilani’s pit at the track for fans to place their soda and water bottles, which Ecobabble will use to manufacture 50/50 cotton/polyester t-shirts.

“I am excited to be working with Ecobabble to offer eco friendly merchandise,” said Leilani, “And I’d also like to thank Chicagoland Speedway for allowing me to have a recycle bin in my pit. Together we are teaming up to help make a greener world and I am just proud to be a part of it.”

Cool fact: It takes 5 plastic bottles to make one t-shirt.

If you started saving your cola bottles, you might never need to shop at The Gap again.

For more information, visit Leilanimunter.com.

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Photo Credit: IndyCar

So take that, Sea Kitten disser!

Race car driver Leilani Munter got the pleasure of rubbing a personal victory in Stephen Colbert’s face.

After climbing to the top of a wind turbine at Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Abileen, Texas, Leilani autographed one of the blades. The owner of the tower, NextEra Energy Resources, nicknamed it “Leilani.”

NextEra Energy Resources owns about 6,290 megawatts (MW) of wind farm assets in the USA, and accounted for roughly 25 percent of the total wind power installed in the country during 2008, according to the International Business Times.

“I had to call Stephen out because it seems like every time I watch “The Colbert Report,” he’s having something named after him,” Leilaini told emagazine.com. “I was like—ha!—I beat him to one thing. He may have all the animals on the earth named for him, but he doesn’t have a wind turbine”

Leilani is an outspoken environmentalist who has described herself as a “vegetarian hippie chick.”

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Photo Credit: Craig Davidson

Besides the whole Freedom of Speech thing, NYC, and baseball, name some great things about the United States of America.

Add Leilani Munter to your list, as the vegetarian race car driver who races with divisions of both NASCAR and IndyCar has made Reader’s Digest’s 10 Reasons to Love Our Country.

“Münter, 33, who’s both a stock-car and open-wheel driver, has made it her mission to “green” big-time auto racing—which, at 100 million strong, may have the most enthusiastic fan base on the planet. Her goals: renewable biofuels and recycled tires for the cars and recycling programs at the tracks. For doubters, she has a message: “Never underestimate a vegetarian hippie chick with a race car.””

Leilani consistently delivers her message as an environmentalist through public speaking engagements, interviews, and her website, carbonfreegirl.com.

Not to mention she’s lightening her carbon footprint every time she sits down at the dinner table and consumes a plant based meal.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,” she said, “are the ones who end up doing it.”

What can we say? We love those crazy girls.

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