In 1971, a small group of activists sailed from Vancouver, Canada in a fishing boat to try to stop Richard Nixon's nuclear bomb tests in Amchitka, Alaska.

Their actions caught the attention of the public and this eventually led to a worldwide green movement and pioneered the foundation of Greenpeace.

Dennis Harvey praised the film in Variety noting, "The goldmine of 16mm color footage, whose propagandic value participants were quite cognizant of at the time, is in mint condition, showing the excitement and fun of the movement in its earliest days.

"[6] Kate Taylor from The Globe and Mail gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, adding that "Whatever you think of Greenpeace's less well-considered antics over the years, How to Change the World is a compelling story of one environmentalist's remarkable combination of prescience, grit and timing.

"[7] The Toronto Star wrote "Almost a "found footage" movie, it makes excellent use of 1,500 archived 16 mm reels supplemented with fresh interviews and some animation.