14 DAY TRIAL // Greenpeace's third Rainbow Warrior costs a lot, approximately £14M (US$23M) but is worth every cent, since it seems that every scrap has a great respect for the environment. It is not ready to hit the ocean, but its manufacturers can already guarantee that it will have a minimum impact upon the entire ecosystem.
It has a very efficient onboard recycling system and the people who build it say the vessel also displays a biological sewage treatment. It relies on wind power a great deal, since it is designed to sail more and use less traditional power.
The wood used to design the cabins is eco-friendly, FSC-approved and everything seems to comply with eco-conscious quality standards.
The heat created by the generators will be recycled to heat water on board and will also be used for engine pre-heating. At this point in time, the vessel which is the sixth in their fleet the capacity to transport up to 30 people. A product owned by Greenpeace has got to be entirely earth-friendly and sustainable, by definition. There is a feature which raised criticism: the pad for helicopters, which displys more opulence than the pure, altruistic care for green values.
Greenpeace officials defend themselves while affirming that this feature provides effective answers to a very common problem which appears as a major bump in the road in many missions: some of the regions are remote and the easiest way to access such areas involves the presence of a helicopter.
It's a fact. The organization has paid a significant amount of money to make sure that the Rainbow Warrior will be more eco-friendly and more innovative than its predecessors.
But Greenpeace didn't deal with the tremendous costs on its own. It benefited from the financial support coming from approximately 3 million members, who embrace green values and are keen on paying for their believes.