April 22, 2008 5:17PM

Earth Day with Matthew Modine and TUMI

By Cheryl Casone

We had a great segment on the show today with the very talented actor Matthew Modine and Laurence Franklin, the president of TUMI. They teamed up together for Earth Day and much much more.

Click here for the video:

I had no idea that Matthew was so active for the environment, but he really is passionate about the cause. Not only is he working on reforestation projects here in New York, but he’s hoping that Bicycle for a Day will become a worldwide event. I know you are curious, so the answer is yes, he is a very nice guy, and very genuine in person. Of course, Tom had no idea who he was and mispronounced his name. So when Matthew came in to the studio for the segment, I immediately let him loose on Mister Sullivan. Of course, he was gracious about it, and again, just a nice guy.

I was so interested in the environmental projects that Matthew was discussing that we ran out of time, and I didn’t get to finish my discussion with Laurence Franklin. But I will say, TUMI bags are great quality, and I mentioned to him before we went to air, it was the first suitcase I bought for myself out of college. Hey, they last, what can I say?

You might check out these three Web sites for more information about the projects:

Modine’s Bicycle For a Day:
http://www.bicycleforaday.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Tumi Go Green page
http://www.tumi.com/about/index.cfm?fuseaction=about_gogreen

Reforestation program Tumi contributes to:
http://www.americanforests.org/global_releaf/