To Greenpeace or Not to Greenpeace? That is the Question.

     I wanted to write about this a while ago, but it sort of slipped my mind. Here it is now, though!
     I was chatting with a very smart person one day about Greenpeace. If you read this, smart person, I know this may not be your opinion now but I found it really interesting at the time so I'd like to offer it up to my peeps as something to think about. I hope that's okay!
     This very smart person said to me that he was "done with Greenpeace". Now, I've wanted to work for Greenpeace since I was eight, so I have to say, I was a little taken aback by this comment. When I asked him why, he said that because of things like Whale Wars and Seal Wars and their constant attack on North American oil, they're missing out on other opportunites to be activists. He said that because they draw so much attention to North American oil, they aren't at all paying attention to Middle Eastern oil. My smart friend thought that Greenpeace was too worried about being glamorous and not worried enough about being engaged in everything they could be.
     I had never considered this point of view before and found it completely fascinating, to be honest with you. I never really looked past the green, peaceful face of Greenpeace. Maybe he was right. Maybe they weren't doing as much as they should be doing. And it got me to thinking about what they could be doing instead and this is what I came up with:
     Greenpeace could be a worldwide social agitator. They could be on top of every wrong-doing across the globe: every oil spill, every Occupy protest, every clear cut, every styrofoam cup thrown out a window, etc. And this would be fantastic! It would be incredibly helpful in the fight for our right to live on a healthy, happy planet.
     Greenpeace doesn't have enough people for this. Sadly, there are not enough people who care and who are willing to be at every single tossing-of-a-cigarette-butt incident. But, the people at Greenpeace are doing what they can with the resources that they have. AND THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING.
     Even though I see my smart friend's point, here is why I am still on the Greenpeace train:
1. Without TV shows like Whale Wars and Seal Wars, thousands of people wouldn't even have known that things like that were taking place.
2. I know that everything with a camera seems like a hoax, but personally, I would not be on a ship on the coast of Antarctica saving whales' asses if I didn't care about it with all of my heart and soul. These people are hardcore.
3. Greenpeace is confronting AN oil crisis. Not all oil crises, but they are making people aware of part of the industry that will ultimately be our demise and I think that's a pretty big dealio.
4. Greenpeace is a not-for-profit organization. My strong, womanly instincts tell me that this cannot be a bad thing.
5. Greenpeace is the most well-known, most fricking inspiring activist group ever. If you are not inspired by a group of people who may live in poverty on purpose just for the sake of helping YOU live freely on your Earth, I don't know what to say.
6. Greenpeace may not be protesting and boycotting everything, but    THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING. I cannot say that enough. I can't help but think that the fact that they are out there in the public eye doing something so amazing and helpful makes others want to be helpful too. Maybe not to the same degree of crazy, but maybe they'll stop eating meat. Maybe they'll start riding their bike to school. Maybe they'll stop going to zoos.
     We, as a whole, need organizations like Greenpeace to remind us of what's important.