Friends of the Earth Newsletter
Why an FOE Newsletter?
Almost from the beginning Friends of the Earth has been keenly aware of the need to communicate regularly with members, now 1,000 strong, in Europe, South Africa, the Channel Islands, and of course throughout Britain. With our present resources it would be quite impracticable to attempt anything as grand as even the simplest newsletter, however rarely we might try to print and distribute it. Our finances would collapse; no campaigns would get fought.
A happy arrangement has now been reached between The Ecologist, and Friends of the Earth, whereby a regular monthly new column will appear on this page of the magazine, directed, principally, at FOE membership, Indirectly, it is our hope that FOE membership will be augmented from the ranks of The Ecologist's own readership; FOE, after all, is the action group for all practical conservationists.
Inside FOE
FOE operates virtually from inside two filing cabinets at No. 8 King Street, London WC2, Covent Garden - maybe a little closer to the Market than to the Opera. The organisation's working staff consists of a director, a company secretary, two do-it-all-yourself assistants (one of them at the moment writing this article), a one-man legal department, and a dedicated geologist currently examining the National Parks situation-to the joy, no doubt, of RTZ and their friends.
Though I have described FOE's King Street headquarters as minute- two tiny rooms behind a sympathetic book publisher's, with the use of a single telephone extension-we have in recent months become the focusing point for a most extraordinary concentration of energy, generated among an ever-increasing cross-section of the public. In any given day, we handle a hundred letters, endless telephone enquiries, see callers from all parts of the country, and generally cope with the work of a fairly large business organisation. We try never to lose sight of the reason for FOE's existence: the encouragement of the intelligent, economic use of the earth's ever-diminishing natural resources.
To our mind a sense of urgency, of immediacy must always be maintained so that the vital get-out-and-do-it approach to life does not give way to sterile theorising. (Theory, of course, is the first requirement. But it must be followed with action.) However, there is in our affairs at the moment an urgent matter to deal with that we could well do without: the need to find new premises by the New Year. Early in 1972 the lease on our building expires, and our benefactors themselves are being forced to move. Where we shall go, we do not know. In the meantime, work goes on, and we are welcoming new Friends at the rate of about 10 a day. Offers of help, both general and specific, continue to come in. One of our greatest needs is for free litho and silk screen printing, and free type setting. We do realise that that is almost too much to expect ...
What next
Immediate problems will not be allowed to cloud long-term objectives. Not surprisingly, a few simple calculations show us that we must stabilise our financial status in order to expand, in order to keep up with the demands of our self-appointed tasks.
Expansion can be achieved in one of two ways. Either FOE London, given the funds and just a little time to organise, will appoint the right person to oversee and co-ordinate each of our selected campaigns from a central control position, or better, autonomous regional FOE offices will be established under the direction of competent full-time secretaries, with all the back-up services of London on call.
Essentially, we want to avoid what Donald Schon has termed the centre-periphery situation, whereby an organisation's forces and resources tend to be drawn to the centre, to "head office", while patently the strength of the group, considered in terms of its day-to-day experience is derived from experience "in the field". While all current campaigns are national in the sense that we are fighting for legislation by Government, the time will come when we shall take on the polluters, the waste-makers, where their activities may be essentially localised. In that context, FOE London will be involved as one more support-group for the principal, local group.
When will FOE's grass roots begin to spread? When Graham Searle, British FOE director, gets the chance to travel about the country, assess potential and appoint local secretaries. With immediate problems to be overcome in London, this is likely to happen about mid-1972.
How you can help now
Join Friends of the Earth simply by associating yourself with our campaign aims. (Though we hate to ask for donations, donations we do need, as well.) Encourage your friends to become Friends. Invest in a copy of the Consumer's Guide to the Protection of the Environment, by John Holliman: it helps you tackle the practical problems we all face in a world society rapidly spinning out of control.
Ask us for lists of Friends in your area; help us construct a network of activist cells throughout the country. Write to your local council, your MP and the Department of the Environment asking them to take immediate steps to curb those who are destroying our environment, and to initiate rational environmental education policies. (They're all political animals: they need you as much as you need them, and pressure is one of the things they understand and respect.) Promote social groups and engineer gatherings to discuss the possibilities of re-cycling centres and transport pools. Get out and get involved! If you think your professional capabilities will be useful, tell us what you can do for us: we shall do the same for you.
