How To...Join Networks

What would Martin Luther King have been without his flock of millions of followers? What would have become of Gandhi without the masses of underprivileged Indians who joined him in peaceful protest? Where would Grace Armitage have taken us without the countless thousands of older people who joined in her calls to act now on climate change?

Who is Grace Armitage? It could be any one of you out there, with an idea, a passion, a desire to change the direction we are veering in; but with no-one who will listen to you because, although so many people feel the same, they also have no idea what to do about it. If a strongly held belief is to be heard, a single voice is too quiet. Green Seniors need to join together to be heard.

There are many special individuals out there who can make changes on their own, and we completely respect the wish of those of you who are content to find out more, and do your own part as a letter writer, political lobbyist, spreader of good ideas or whatever you want to do to help make the environment better. You are welcome at Green Seniors, and we hope you will stay.

We do believe, though, that for every individual action that makes a difference, there are many more actions taken by a group of people with a similar purpose, that make a much bigger difference. The logic is simple : it is easy to ignore one letter, much harder to ignore a hundred; it is easy to ignore a lone protester at the factory gate, much more difficult to ignore a thousand people blockading the entire factory; it is easy to say one vote doesn’t matter, impossible to say 10,000 votes don’t matter.

Group action works because groups of people cannot be ignored.

But groups cannot be run on the basis of a single individual’s activities; they must be well organised, be able to cater for a range of opinions, and in most cases have the necessary funding to be able to provide services to a large number of people. Unless you already have a group in operation, or are a remarkably organised individual (and there are quite a few out there), then your best course of action to make a difference is to add your voice to an existing group.

Some groups use their membership as a single voice rather than a large number of individuals, and we won’t rule out listing one on that basis; though we prefer groups that want to mobilise their members in an active way, in letter writing or direct action, for instance.

We like to call these kinds of groups, “networks”, because they allow people to work collectively, as a network. We especially like those networks that want to join smaller groups and networks together for a common purpose, for these kinds of organisations have huge potential power.

At Green Seniors, we aim to take much of the confusion out of finding a suitable network to match your requirements. The links on the left hand side largely contain specially selected groups and networks that fulfil our basic criteria:

· They are of a broadly environmental nature, e.g. preventing climate change, preserving forests, reducing consumption.

· They are in line with the main body of scientific thinking, e.g. they are not climate change skeptics.

· They are not overtly commercial in nature, i.e. they don’t exist just to make money for someone.

· They are not funded by companies or bodies that contradict the aims of the group, such as oil companies, coal mining firms or aircraft manufacturers.

So if you are keen to take part, then use the links on the right, and find out more about something in your area, or further afield – you may find you have more in common with networks in another country than you realise.

And if you have a group that you want us to recognise, then drop us a line on [email protected] - we are always willing to spread the word.

Comments

[Roland Dawson]

I am retired and living in Hungary but do not know where to begin, could I be of assistance ? I would love to get involved.

[Dr.R.L.Symonds]

Glad to help. Are there green senior groups in UK? We are in Isle of Thanet, furtherst East in southern England.

[Keith Farnish]

Dear Dr Symonds

We are trying to collate lists of environmental networks all over the UK. I happen to hail from Margate and know that it is a bit of a "desert" in east Kent. It is clear that there is a great need for environmental groups that are "senior friendly", which is why we have started this venture.

Keep watching the site, especially the UK Networks links, and we will post any appropriate items that we come across.

If any readers are aware of groups or networks that cover Dr Symonds' area, or any area, then please drop us a line.

Keith

[Keith Farnish]

Dear Roland

I have sent you a personal mail, but for anyone else who would like to help, please feel free to contact us.

The best things anyone can do to help us at the moment are:

1) Link to us from other web sites and spread the word
2) Provide us with details of green networks, particularly those related to seniors.

And of course, carry on campaigning for what you believe is right.

Keith and Joyce.

[Ann Rogers]

Just found the GreenSenior site after monitoring the news on Energy Bulletin. Would like to be on any sort of world-wide mailing list, and would circulate info locally.
Our local enviro groups have just convinced the city of Traverse City Mi to pass the Mayors'
Climate Protection Agreement. This was started by Sierra Club and has over 340 signatures. Now the real work begins.
Please sign me up for any list available.
thank you

[Keith Farnish]

Hi Ann, and congratulations on your excellent work.

We had not thought of having a mailing list, as Green Seniors is not a membership organisation, however a regular bulletin would be an excellent idea and I will create a "sign up" link very soon.

Please send your e-mail address to [email protected] and I will add you tonight.

Keith

[Linda Brooking]

Can you tell me please if you know of any contacts in France that I could link up with?

[Keith Farnish]

Hi Linda

We have certainly had people from France visiting the site, but no-one from France has contacted us yet. We will do a little research and contact you directly when we find something.

Keith

[m.mufaiz ahmed]

i don't know about this website please tell clearly about this just tell how to join in this

[Donna Cunningham]

As a Pacific Northwest resident, I have been sickened at watching the forests clearcut. I am the author of many books, and five years ago, I decided to only publish in ebook format to do my part to stop deforestation. It has been an unpopular decision among my long-time readers, and book sales have been very slow, despite lots of promotional work on my part. Tonight I was feeling very disheartened and questioning if I could go on with this campaign. Then I picked up the AARP magazine and the first thing I saw was an article about this site. It seemed the answer to a prayer. Thanks for being there!!

[Keith Farnish]

Good move, Donna. I will be doing the same, at least for the majority of copies of my book (I still buy 2nd hand books, though, and some people cannot use e-books).

It's good to see Green Seniors is helping people.

Keith

[Meria]

I have been working on environmental issues for decades and have many experts on this topic in the library of shows on my site at www.Meria.net
It is #2 in importance, only to real nuclear danger.
Without a clean planet, we have no place to live.

[bob]

Hello,

I am a student trying learn more about "green seniors" and what problems they face in their everyday lives?

Also, what changes would they like to see happen in the near future involving energy and electricity? As well, what portable renewable energy applications would benefit this group?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Bob

[Keith Farnish]

Dear Bob

Please see my response in "How To...Find Information"

Keith

[Robert MacDonald]

I would very much like to be involved with Green Seniors but have only just started to get used to the Internet. I have e-mail but do not use Facebook, Twitter etc. My reason for acquiring a computer is that I am taking a distance learning GCSE course in Astronomy and now find that it has opened the door to my other passion CONSERVATION. I am well into reading a Matter Of Scale which I find a perfect companion to my astronomy studies. One 'ten millionth of a metre' in one direction and 'billions of light years' in the other and all from our tiny piece of rock. We are indeed privileged to spend our time in such a beautiful place in the Universe.
That is why I have always tried to be involved in conservation issues locally in Ongar and am present working with local schools to try and reduce and ulitimately eliminate single use plastic bags. Oh by the way I am 75 years young. I do hope that I am pressing the right buttons and that this message finds its way to Green Seniors and that in turn I form a link to the website. Thanks.

[Joyce]

Robert MacDonald, welcome to Green Seniors. This blog was created by two people. One, Keith Farnish, wrote the book you are currently reading. I am the other, now "70 years young" as you might say.

Have a look around the website--there is much interesting reading there and on the companion blog, www.greengranny.org. The links listed in the right hand columns haven't been checked for a while and may not work. I will remove them in due time--I don't think most of those links are as useful as they once were, given today's search engines.

Keith has turned to blogging and writing full time along with living a green life with his family. My own work as a Green Senior has been pre-empted by family in need of my help and service. Many of the Green Seniors you will read about on the site are still going strong working on behalf of conservation.

Feel free to comment on the various posts (I moderate all comments so allow a bit of time for that). Also write to me directly if you wish at [email protected]

Joyce