Eco-warrior
Encyclopedia
The term eco-warrior is a self-description for an environmental
activist that adopts a 'hands-on' effort to save or salvage a plot of land, or to advance some ecological ideology. In the UK it was the media that coined the term in the 1990s, a label that many people actively taking ecological direct action resisted, for philosophical reasons.
A common symbol of an eco-warrior is the Eco Warriors Flag.
Another use of the term refers to an environmental activist who engages in illegal activities, also known as eco-terrorism
. However, an eco-warrior is also someone who utilizes the court
s to halt, suspend, or otherwise derail a human activity that the activist believes adversely impacts the environment.
, ranging anywhere from planting tree spikes into trees on public lands to keep the lumber industry from cutting them down, to sit-ins which occupy a corporate office. Also, an eco-warrior can be someone who engages in an environmental organisation (e.g. Greenpeace) or an environmental company that delivers safekeeping or improvements for the environment (e.g. directly by selling environmental products as environmentally friendly cars, or indirectly by carbon dioxide offsets). People advocating or recommending the use of fundamentally new green technologies (e.g. Amory Lovins
, Amy Smith
, Elon Musk
, Robin Murray, and Bjørn Lomborg) can also be considered eco-warriors.
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
activist that adopts a 'hands-on' effort to save or salvage a plot of land, or to advance some ecological ideology. In the UK it was the media that coined the term in the 1990s, a label that many people actively taking ecological direct action resisted, for philosophical reasons.
A common symbol of an eco-warrior is the Eco Warriors Flag.
Another use of the term refers to an environmental activist who engages in illegal activities, also known as eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
. However, an eco-warrior is also someone who utilizes the court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s to halt, suspend, or otherwise derail a human activity that the activist believes adversely impacts the environment.
Types
An eco-warrior can be someone as mundane and non-confrontational as a tree sitter or someone who engages in direct actionDirect action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
, ranging anywhere from planting tree spikes into trees on public lands to keep the lumber industry from cutting them down, to sit-ins which occupy a corporate office. Also, an eco-warrior can be someone who engages in an environmental organisation (e.g. Greenpeace) or an environmental company that delivers safekeeping or improvements for the environment (e.g. directly by selling environmental products as environmentally friendly cars, or indirectly by carbon dioxide offsets). People advocating or recommending the use of fundamentally new green technologies (e.g. Amory Lovins
Amory Lovins
Amory Bloch Lovins is an American environmental scientist and writer, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has worked in the field of energy policy and related areas for four decades...
, Amy Smith
Amy B. Smith
Amy Smith is an American inventor, educator, and founder of at . She works to develop technologies and build creative capacity internationally.-Early life and education:...
, Elon Musk
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American engineer and entrepreneur heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity...
, Robin Murray, and Bjørn Lomborg) can also be considered eco-warriors.
Notable eco-warriors and warrior actions
- In 2006, an eco-warrior group who sabotaged heavily polluting terrain vehicles became known in Paris (France), calling themselves 'Les DégonflésLes DégonflésLes Dégonflés is a French passive vigilante group that deflates tyres on SUVs parked on the streets of Paris in order to protest against the associated high emissions and damage caused to the environment.|last = Bremner|first = Charles...
'. - Another well known British "eco-warrior" is Daniel Hooper, who is also known as SwampySwampyDaniel Hooper is an environmental activist, sometimes characterised as an environmental protester or eco-warrior, from the United Kingdom...
. - Chico MendesChico MendesFrancisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes , was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples...
and Ken Saro-WiwaKen Saro-WiwaKenule "Ken" Beeson Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian author, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize...
are the most famous green activists in Brazil and Nigeria, respectively. - Made famous in the US for a hurling a brick through the window of a McDonald's during the so-called "Battle in Seattle", French activist and small-scale cheese farmer José BovéJosé BovéJoseph Bové is a French farmer and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential election...
has been fighting neo-liberalism on his home turf for decades. - Paul WatsonPaul WatsonPaul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....
and the direct-action conservation group known as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which he founded, can be called eco-warriors for their direct engagements of ships engaging in overfishing and commercial whaling. - Penti Baihua is a internationally-known HuaoraniHuaoraniThe Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...
. The Huaorani, like many other indigenous peoples, are very much interested in putting a stop to illegal logging on their homeland, and also embrace the concept of ecotourismEcotourismEcotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
to supply in funds to help in the protection of their local biodiversity.
External links
- The Next Eco-Warriors Book
- EcoWarriorsFlag.org
- http://www.ecowarriors.org/wordpress/
- EcoWarriors Romania
- EcoWarriors Facebook Page
- http://www.ecowarriorsurf.com
- Environmental activism by Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer Environmental activism book
- Enforcement action as a method for environmental protection