GREEN NEWS: Weirdest green protests of 2008

2008 has been a great year for people who like to go out and shout about things, and it's the green lobby that have been making their voices heard the loudest. From Plane Stupid's objections to the proposed third runway at Heathrow to a LEGO stand against Kingsnorth - the first coal power station to be built in Britain for 30 years - it's been a great year for the art of protesting, and a whole new breed of activist has emerged: one that has a sense of humour.

Follow the jump for our favourite direct action antics of 2008

1. Lego protest at Kingsnorth

By far the weirdest stunt by an environmental organisation has to be the story of the climate change activists who staged what could be the tiniest protest in history: at the replica of Kingsnorth's coal-fired power station at Legoland, Windsor.The one-inch tall protesters occupied the tower (which is confusingly placed between the park's models of Big Ben and Canary) earlier in the week, unveiling a 'Stop Climate Change' banner down the tower to protest the planned new coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent. Certainly beats anything PETA could pull off...

2. Santa pops into Topshop

A group of 'Activist Santas' from an organisation called 'People & Planet' paid a visit to Philip Green's flagshop Topshop store in London earlier this month to deliver a green wake-up call over allegations of sweatshop labour at the chain's factories. All dressed in red santa suits, the student protestors treated shoppers to a street theatre performance of 'A Topshop Christmas Carol', featuring a 'modern day scrooge', aka Green himself.

Following revelations of poor workers' conditions in 2007, Topshop has claimed it has changed its practices, yet still refuses to join the Ethical Trading Initiative; a baseline standard set for the high street.

3. PETA's 'Unhappy Mother's Day' stunt

In February, a visibly pregnant PETA member climbed into a replica farrowing crate like the ones used to house sows when they are expecting and nursing their young, in London's Covent Garden. Personally, I thought it was a fair point -- albeit graphically made -- since the pracise of putting pregnant sows in these confined spaces is one I find pretty repugnant. However, I felt that PETA had shot itself in the foot once again with a stunt that many people happily going about their shopping in Covent probably took offence or sneered at.

3. Chaos at Climate Camp

Not so much a weird protest as slightly bizarre response from enforcers of the Law, who came in with the riot gear unexpectedly one afternoon and caused a bit of panic at an otherwise peaceful protest, also against Kingsnorth. We had a frontline reporter giving us regular updates on the situation, which fortunately calmed down very quickly.

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