It’s always nice to feel part of something, especially something big. And when you’re a Greenpeace activist you can be part of something that spans the entire globe, no matter where you live.
One day I was sitting in the East End Pub of the Year, the Rose and Crown, listening to the latest developments to the VW campaign while the rain poured down outside. A few days later I was sitting in the sunshine in Auckland, telling some eager faced Kiwis about the same campaign.
A visit to New Zealand to visit relatives lead me to meet up with some Greenpeace activists in Auckland. I had no particular connection or agenda there – I had just ticked all my tourist boxes and fancied doing something a bit different. Plus I was curious to know what goes on with Greenpeace on the other side of the world.
And it turned out they were just as curious about me. They’d never had anyone from Europe visit before and they were very keen to hear about our VW campaign. Being focused on EU lobbying they hadn’t been involved in it.
“You’re very good with the digital stuff,” they said. I thought for a moment they’d read my previous blog and seen our network’s Twitter feed. I then realised they probably meant the VW Darkside website and they didn’t mean me specifically. I thanked them and took the credit anyway.
I was equally interested to hear about their oceans work, and the problems they have with overfishing. Turns out Europeans are a thorn in the side of the Asia Pacific oceans. Unscrupulous European fishing industries are busy buying up fishing quotas from Pacific Islanders desperate to make a quick bit of cash. You can see how this is all going to go quickly wrong.
It was great to meet the activists behind Greenpeace Aotearoa and hear about the work in the Asia Pacific area. And even better to know where ever there’s a Greenpeace network in the world you can be almost assured of having some friends.
If you'd like to make some new friends, but don't fancy travelling the world to do so then come along to the Waltham Forest Network's meet-up on the first Wednesday of the month. You'll find us somewhere near the bar at the Rose & Crown on Hoe Street from around 7pm.
Comments