Go on - make a difference: join the Green Party - you'll join the Green Party of England and Wales who will notify us of your membership and we'll contact you with details of meetings etc.
If you're not sure then read on...
Voting Green is not enough
Voting for the Greens is essential, but you could do more. We need members and a strong, active local party to provide and support our election candidates. Without candidates it is impossible to register a vote for real green politics. Only Greens deliver the message, which the Grey Parties - Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat - still seem not to understand: that the planet cannot sustain the continuous growth that they all strive for, or the social justice sought by some of them.
The power of a full slate of candidates combined with a strong Green vote cannot be understated. In the 1989 European Elections we fought every seat and won two and a quarter million votes. Immediately afterwards the Grey parties drafted emergency tranches of 'green' policy to attract the Green vote in future elections. Even Margaret Thatcher declared 'I am Green' and replaced her then Environment minister Nicholas Ridley with the supposedly more eco-friendly Chris Patten. In the 2009 elections in the Stroud District, South West Green Party candidates received as many votes as both the Lib Dems and Labour.
Supporting a Green pressure group is not enough
Supporting organisalions like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace is important, but not enough. The Establishment encourages pressure groups because they divert dissenting skills, energy and money from the political sector. To change the structure of society - the cause of the present environmental and social crisis - it is essential to also put pressure where it has most impact - within the electoral system.
Grey fraudsters
The 'green' policies of the Grey Parties are a sham. Their continued belief in failed growth-based economics will always relegate their green policies to the dustbin at the first sign of a crisis. It is essential that Greens continue to fight elections at both national and local level to expose this deceit.
Only the long term strategic approach of truly Green politics - putting people and planet before profits - can guarantee a future for our children.
Their future depends on us. If we want air we can breathe, food we can eat and water we can drink - for all the world's people - we must act now.
Giving Green politics authority
Green politics is not just about fighting elections. Successful national and local campaigns to make all of our lives better continue throughout the year. The more members we have the more campaigns we can run and the more elections we can fight. But more than that. The more members we have the more authority Green politics has with both the Government and the media.
Each of us must act and decide
Each of us can make a difference. It is no good waiting for someone else to act or decide for us. That attitude - encouraged by those in power - is what has kept us controlled and exploited throughout history. Each one or us must take responsibility for the future, for our children and our children's children. We believe that the best way is to join the Green Party and fight to change the system from within.
Work with like-minded people
When you join the Green Party you are joining a global community of people - people with vision, people with principles - who believe, like you, that people and planet must come before profits. The sense of belonging, of purpose and of being part of a global movement for change, is exhilirating, and empowering..
Making your mark
Members can work within their local or the national party to make their mark, on their town or village, and on the country. Policy and strategy are formulated by the members and agreed in open conference. No closed doors. No smoke-filled rooms. Local parties enjoy a high degree of autonomy with members elected to functional roles. The Greens have national leaders but no hierarchy.
Where do you sit?
An interesting test to see where people sit politically is available at:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/
It is by no means comprehensive but is a fun way of looking roughly at how our views fit with the political scene.
