Rebecca Verlander, School Student - "I met Tony Blair five years ago to hand him signatures as part of The Big Ask campaign, calling for the Government to change the law on carbon emissions." Read the full interview.

Professor Charles Oppenheim, Retired Academic -  "I was at the first public meeting of Friends of the Earth in 1971. It was held in a back room in what was then Gamages department. I happened to be in that part of London on business and saw a fly poster. I was free so I went along." Read the full interview

KT Tunstall, Musician - "Being a touring musician is not an eco-friendly job. I've tried hard to combat that by reducing the carbon and waste of my tours, and the production of my music." Read the full interview 

Dave Dayes, Tropical Fruit Trader - "I built my own house, long before this sort of thing was fashionable. It made me think long and hard about how to reduce my environmental impact." Read the full interview 

Tom Lloyd-Smith, Adventure Cyclist - "I've just got back from an eight- month trip, cycling from Kent to Kerala, India. After three years as a civil servant,  I was eligible for a career break. I decided to cycle as it struck me as a purer, cheaper and healthier way of seeing the world." Read the full interview.

Sheila Menon, Filmmaker and Curator - "I've filmed stunts outside the Houses of Parliament,
including one against nuclear power with a huge inflatable white elephant. Those are fun - you only have one chance to get your shot so you have to think on your feet." Read the full interview

Adam Roxby, Student Nurse - "I give about an hour a day to Friends of the Earth. We're currently in the early stages of creating a green guide to local businesses and opposing an application for a deep-sea container port in Harwich." Read the full interview.

Liz Jensen, Novelist - "My last novel,'The Rapture', had climate change as its theme. I'm beginning to think it's the only subject I can write about. It's so huge, so important, I felt I couldn't avoid it. I wrote the novel as a way of finding out where I stood." Read the full interview

Kurt Jackson, Artist, and Caroline Jackson, Artistic Director - "Almost all my work is influenced by my interest in the environment, particularly the one around me, in Cornwall," says Kurt. "I paint plants, animals, landscapes, habitats, even people who are closely connected with nature." Read the full interview 

Nathalie Lieven QC, Barrister - "As a barrister, you can't think too hard about whether you agree with someone you're representing or not. But my charitable work for the likes of Friends of the Earth is different: I'm doing something I believe in, which is incredibly fulfilling." Read the full interview 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Chef and Campaigner - "I enjoy eating meat, but there are various extremely good reasons for eating less of it. There's the issue of animal welfare, there's our personal health. But what's becoming increasingly compelling is the unavoidable fact that eating less meat is better for the planet." Read more.

Marco Cadena, Volunteer - "I grew up in Hungary (and my dad's Mexican), but came to London after graduating as it's a major hub for global campaigning. It's harder to get involved in a small place like Budapest." Read the full interview

Caroline Eccles, filmmaker - "A short film I made with my partner about a beauty spot in Accrington changed my life. I wanted to show it isn't so grim up north: the hill is full of wild flowers, butterflies, bumble bees and berries." Read more.

Eva Holmes, Administrator - "I've had my electric bike for nearly a year and it's fabulous. I live on a hill and work on a hill, so it really helps. I cycle a lot more now I've got it." Read more

Lisa Fairtlough, Grandmother - "It was Concorde that first got me steamed up about the environment. I'd read an article in 'The Times' about its imminent launch, in 1969, and it shocked me. I think I objected to the potential damage it would do to the atmosphere." Read more 

Helena Wright, Volunteer - "I've been part of the Young Friends of the Earth network for a few years. I've been to a couple of climate change talks. It's frustrating and slow, with lots of legal wrangling behind closed doors." Read more

Steve Bell, Cartoonist - "There's scope for taking the piss out of everything. I did a strip with a farting cow and a polar bear arguing about who has the bigger right to exist. But it's harder to do cartoons on issues, as it can grate." Read more

Walt Patterson, Energy Expert - "I first wrote about the effects of a nuclear accident in an article for 'New Scientist' in 1972, so Fukushima didn't come as a surprise - and it hasn't changed my mind about nuclear power." Read more 

Susie Hewson, Green Businesswoman - "Long before people really knew about recycling, our small, ramshackle Friends of the Earth group in Basingstoke organised newspaper collections, to raise funds. We convinced people to save up their newspapers, collected them in a van every Friday, then took them to a paper merchant." Read more

Codes in the Clouds, Musicians - "We've applied the idea of recycling to a record. Last year we released our album, 'Paper Canyon Recycled', after putting out a call to fans and fellow artists for remixes of our debut album, 'Paper Canyon'." Read more 

Susan Poupard, Web Editor - "I don't fly on holidays. But you can't do everything: there's a great food store called Unpackaged where you fill up your own containers. I wish I shopped there all the time. But supermarkets can be much more convenient." Read more

Ali Abbas, Business Analyst - "We have about 150 members in the Manchester local group, mostly at the younger end - it's fun." Read more

Margaret and Nigel Woodward, Charity Trustees - "We moved to Totnes, Devon, from Beaconsfield 18 months ago. We should have done it years ago." Read more

Dina Baird, Mother and Teacher - "I'm fitter now I don't drive everywhere. My kids moaned about having to walk to school at first, but now they don't mind at all." Read more

John Fulljames, Artistic Director - "Music is an emotional art form. It's not good at communicating facts and figures but it can improve our understanding of the human stories behind the science." Read more

Amyan Macfadyen, Retired Ecologist - "I'm an amateur gardener and help once a week in the local botanical gardens. I'd love to do more but I'm not terribly active these days. But I'll never lose my interest in plants and animals." Read more

Kendra Ullyart, Mother and Theatre Designer - "Before I had triplet girls I was a theatre designer with a reputation for colourful and flamboyant sets. Now I coordinate a Friends of the Earth group and organise campaigns and events." Read more

Suzannah Evans, University Tutor - "I'm a coordinator of Newport's Friends of the Earth group. We've started a green film club, with free screenings. People don't want to change their lifestyles. But we might slowly start to change behaviour." Read more

Pete Wilkinson, Environmental Policy Consultant - "In 1971 I was immediately set to work collecting empty bottles from pubs nearby. This was for our first big campaign, dumping non-returnable bottles outside Schweppes' London HQ to try to persuade supermarkets to switch  [to returnable bottles]." Read more

Stanley Knill, Volunteer - "Friends of the Earth spoke to me as something I could undoubtedly commit myself to. If I could be part of that, then I knew everything I did would be useful." Read more

John Crocker, Organic Grower - "I used to live in a flat in north London, but I couldn't again - I'm used to the countryside now. I have half an acre of land south of Aberystwyth, and grow vegetables and salad. It's not a very good living, but you do it because it's what you love." Read more

Jonathon Porritt, Veteran Environmentalist - "The biggest environmental challenge facing the world is the fixation on economic growth at all costs. It's a struggle to find sufficient arguments against it, but until we do, all other campaigns will find it hard to be heard." Read more

Dr John Hemming, Writer, Explorer - "I first saw the Amazon in 1961, and fell in love. I was exploring the Iriri, then believed to be the world's longest unexplored river. The Brazilian government had authorised us to name landmarks, so we named them after our Brazilian girlfriends." Read more

Rachna Shah, Graduate - "I spent a year 'in industry' - required as part of my degree course - working at
Friends of the Earth. I did a bit of everything, from recruitment to events to communicating with local groups and working on the newsletter." Read more

Ron Cook, Retired Environmental Manager - "You could say I started bottle banks. In the 1970s, I was marketing manager for United Glass. I'd heard of a Swiss experiment involving skips on high streets to drop empty bottles. We wanted to try something similar in the UK." Read more

Kate Eldridge, Company Secretary - "I'd always been interested in the environment and I think that came from my mum. And from watching Blue Peter." Read more

Baroness Bryony Worthington, Climate Change Campaigner - "There is political will on climate change in the broader sense, but when it comes to the detail, it gets trickier. We are up against a lot of lobbying from people who benefit from the status quo - so forcing companies to change is hard." Read more

Roger Ross, Businessman and Philanthropist - "I got into yoga 20 years ago - I was stressed from work and my body was stiff - and through learning with a guru realised how important it is to give to charity. I'd like to encourage others to do the same." Read more

Samuel Hillier, School Student - "I got into environment issues after someone came to our school to give a talk after the BP oil spill. It was passed off as a maths talk, about buying and selling crude oil, but it felt like propaganda." Read more

Esmie Ricks, Retired Teacher - "Being interested in languages I like going abroad - but I think flying should be rationed. It's possible, but it would take quite a lot of discipline."