Older people are better known for protesting about pensions and council tax, but a growing number are setting their sights on protecting the planet. This month saw the launch of a new transatlantic website, linking a growing number of grey-haired greens who are making the environment their cause.

One such campaigner is 61-year-old Irene Willis, who knew she was not cut out for the stereotypical pensioner's life when she retired.

So instead of crosswords and Countdown, she found another way to pass the time: as a direct-action environmental activist, chaining herself to fences and breaking in to nuclear bases.

In the four years since she discovered non-violent protest she estimates she has been arrested up to 25 times, and believes her age and appearance make her an asset to the movement.

"On demos, I can get away with murder," she laughs. "The police are much more lenient with grey-haired old ladies than with younger protesters."

Irene is typical of a new breed of ecology-conscious older people on a mission to save the world.

This month saw the launch of a GreenSeniors.org, a web-based network for older people set up by activists in the UK and US which hails Irene as a "green hero".

A poll for the UN World Environment Day last year found pensioners are the most eco-friendly age group in the UK: over 90% recycle their litter, four out of five take showers rather than baths and 79% use low-energy light bulbs.

'No-one listens'

This is because getting older makes you more concerned about what you will leave behind, Irene believes.

Her passion for fighting climate change, pollution and global injustice has seen her landed with £800 outstanding in court fines, which she refuses to pay. In 2004 her refusal to pay an earlier fine saw her jailed for 10 days in Edmonds Hill Prison, Suffolk.