SHORT TAKES : Newton-John: Environmentalist

Singer Olivia Newton-John, the new goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ Environment Program, says individuals can help save the environment in simple ways.

“I can tell people that they can make a difference, that they should not feel powerless and feel the problem is up to someone else,” she said Monday.

When her daughter was born four years ago, Newton-John said, she “felt a sense of my own mortality and wanted to leave her a better world.”

She has written and performed love songs for her daughter that contain an environmental message, and put out an album on recyclable paper, she said.

She said people can help by buying recyclable goods, turning off the tap when brushing their teeth and avoiding products that endanger animals.

As goodwill ambassador, the Australian-born Newton-John, who is now a U.S. citizen, will undertake missions worldwide, including a visit to the U.N. program’s Nairobi headquarters in August for a “celebrity safari.”