The earth is in a delicate state and deserves to be heard. It needs a voice that will bring solutions, change, action and that is where Greenpeace comes in.

Who is Greenpeace?

They are an international environmental organization filled with people who want to change the way we think, behave, and act and our overall attitude towards the blue planet we live in. Greenpeace mission is to be the voice for the voiceless earth. Environmental Issues they address Includes:

• Energy – Creating a new clean energy source in order to address the main problem with our environment, climate change.
• Deforestation – Preserving the ancient forests and all the animals and plants within it.
• Overfishing – Protecting our great blue oceans from harmful fishing habits while also forming a worldwide network of marine reserves.
• Animal Agriculture – encouraging more responsible farming and rejecting genetically engineering.
• Toxins – minimizing hazardous waste and chemicals in products by offer safer alternatives.

They are also said to fight against whaling and nuclear testing. Currently, Greenpeace has grown to be the biggest environmental organization in the world and operates in more than 40 states with their headquarters being located in Toronto, Canada. In Canada, they have 60,000 supporters and nearly 3 million members internationally and represent them at almost every global environmental conference.

Origin of Greenpeace Canada

There is a popular joke spreading within the bars of Vancouver that you could talk to someone who claims to be the original founder of Greenpeace, but the truth is that there is not just one person who started the organization. The name, ideas, strategy, and soul of the whole operation were created by separate individuals but four of the members were more noticeable than the rest. Bob Hunter who was a writer before becoming the first president of Greenpeace, then David McTaggart, Dorothy Stowe, and Irving Stowe an American lawyer who became a Quaker.

It was originally born in the year 1971 in the state of Vancouver, Canada when a group of volunteers and journalists decided to travel on a small boat coasting to Amchitka. They sailed as part of the Don’t Make a Wave Committee in means to stop the United States from running underground nuclear experiments on an Island that was located just north of Alaska. The goal was to bear witness to the immoral act to show they disprove it and gain attention to the media in efforts to spread awareness. It was also a means to try to address the concerns on triggering an earthquake or a tsunami but the all efforts failed in stopping the bomb from being detonated.

Although the bomb did not bring about an earthquake or tsunami it did attract a tide of public interest to the group and they officially became Greenpeace in 1972 after the US Government agreed to stop testing in that area of Alaska. They did not stop on just nuclear testing and went on to fight against whaling, nuclear wastes, and other environmental concerns.

History of Funding

In the mid-90s, the number of supporters was starting to plummet and the organization realized they could not pay the charter fees and their campaign on just selling buttons. That is when they decided to use a new method of getting charity called face to face fundraising, where they would continuously search in public places for new supporters who would be interested in subscribing to a monthly donation.

In the year 2008, Greenpeace was receiving millions, mostly from their regular supporters, and mainly those that were in Europe. Even today, Greenpeace runs independently on its own, which means they do not accept any contributions from governments or corporations. They pay their bills by only receiving charitable donations from individual generous supporters and foundations.