The climbers secure a carbineer
to a massive banner as the inflatable dinghy
driver guns the engine and heads out into
Chesapeake Bay. The front line activists buy
time by going limp as the "police"
move in and a spokesperson delivers her message
to camera moments before security starts shoving
"journalists" out of the way.
Sounds like a typical Greenpeace action --
but it's actually a training session, a part
of the "Greenpeace Organizing Term"
project which takes students from around the
United States and teaches them how to be more
efficient and effective environmental activists.
(If you're a student enrolled at an American
university, you can apply here.)
This year, seven students were chosen from
around 125 applicants. Amy Faulring, one of
the coordinators of the project, says "We´re
looking for commitment, passion, people who
see solutions and see themselves as active
in creating them." Applicants fill out
an online form which asks questions like "Martin
Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau were
willing to go to jail for their beliefs. What
are you willing to do in our struggle to protect
the environment?"
See the world you're saving
Aside from being schooled in Greenpeace action
techniques, students also get a behind-the-scenes
glimpse at the Greenpeace operations in the
US and at least one other country. This year,
they travelled to Amsterdam to visit Greenpeace's
worldwide headquarters and participate in
the commemoration of the bombing of the Rainbow
Warrior, by creating a giant human peace sign
and rainbow in Paris.
(You can click these links to hear two Podcasts,
one about their expriences as campus activists
and the other about their work to stop Kimberly-Clark
from clearcutting ancient forests, or subscribe
to all Greenpeace podcasts here.)
Allison Black: Student Tree Hugger
Emily Rowan of of Wesleyan University is studying
natural resources conservation, and found
out about the project through her hiking club
at college. "You get to see how Greenpeace
fits in with the environmental movement in
general and what an historic organisation
it is."
Rohini Banskota is this term's only high
school student. She applied when she read
about the GOT in her weekly trawl of the Greenpeace
International and Greenpeace USA websites.
"It's an intense dream for us, lots of
information, you have to work and concentrate
and focus really hard. We get exposed to all
different parts of Greenpeace: meeting the
media folks, the scientists and the action
folks, the photographers and videographers..."
"Greenpeace is misunderstood in my community,"
says Anca Giugiurlescu "and I'll be going
home with a much better understanding and
appreciation. I hope I can change some minds."
Real action, real campaigns
The training isn't all theoretical. The students
participate in a real Greenpeace campaign,
and many of them continue the work upon return
to their universities.
This term, the students are participating
in the campaign to convince Kimberly-Clark,
makers of Kleenex, to stop clearcutting ancient
forests to make their products.
"It takes 90 years to grow a box of
Kleenex" says Josh Keenan, a political
science major at New Mexico University.
"When you tell people that, it really
puts it on their conscience and makes them
think. If you care about this issue, it's
not just about not buying Kimberly-Clark,
it's about letting Kimberly-Clark know why
you're using your consumer power to vote against
them. It's only by a combination of economic
penalties and people making themselves heard
that anything's going to change."
Past teams have participated in the nationwide
work of lobbying universities to join the
energy revolution by procuring green energy
and installing on-site renewable sources.
Among the victories have been ground-breaking
commitment from the University of California
at Berkeley and, most recently, a 100 percent
green energy committment from Reading University.
Some students earn credit for their coursework
with Greenpeace, and Diana Silbergeld, another
coordinator of the project, hopes that policy
will expand to more universities. "There
are some great professors out there who work
with us. We need more of them."
Britney Dunnebacke, from South Carolina,
summed up her experience: "I just want
to keep doing this. We're getting people interested
and educated and hyped up... We're also having
a lot of fun."
