History
Friends of the Earth was founded in England in 1971, two years after the group was first founded in San Francisco in 1969. Its first leader was Graham Searle, a former vice president of the National Union of Students. One of the first campaigns was to dump 1,500 glass bottles in front of the HQ of soft drinks giant Schweppes in Connaught House, London in protest at the company's policy of having non-returnable bottles. The group had eight local branches in 1971. By 1976 there were 140, and by 1980 it had 250 and 17,000 registered supporters. Between 1984 and 1996 its director was Jonathan Porritt a former teacher and chairman of the Ecology party. Porritt left in 1996, by which time its membership hit 226,000. Between 2000 and 2008, FoE EWNI's executive director was Tony Juniper.
Read more about this topic: Friends Of The Earth (EWNI)
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