Review-Asia is one of the many ‘Glossies’ to be found in the newsagent magazine rack these days. Their 15^th issue is their Green Issue. A pretty good read. Thought I might write a letter to the editor. Here’s the first draft ;

While the cover of Review Asia’s ‘Green Issue’ rings a well needed alarm, your feature article illustrates that at least there is some awareness of the urgency of the problem and that governments and organizations in Asia are starting to take steps in the right direction. It is now a question of will it be ‘too little, too late’ ?

I have been living in Indonesia for the past twenty years , hopelessly witnessing it’s environmental demise as populations over take ecosystems and communities eagerly exchange a rural existence for a technologically enhanced modern one with all the trappings plastic bags and detergent bottles can afford. These communities simply desire the disposable glitzy lifestyles that we of the west have enjoyed and indeed flaunted, in blissful ignorance of the environment, for the last century.

The problem with the arrival of plastic bags and bottles in Indonesia, was that they suddenly appeared without any instructions on how to recycle or dispose of them properly. It was a case of “Wow ! Cool ! Coca-cola in a light weight plastic bottle ! When I’m done I simply throw it away !” Australia , with a population less than one tenth of Indonesia, is already struggling with it’s waste management. Would it not have been a better option for everybody, to say at the onset ; “Well plastic coke bottles are great but there are a lot less problems with waste by sticking to the glass ones you use and recycle now. Plus it does taste better doesn’t it ?” Maybe it’s a little arrogant to say “ Learn from our mistakes.” We’ve had our joyride with the planet and discovered a few set backs, so sorry but no more MTV for anyone.

People may well react in a manner “The product is here, so I’m going to use it to my benefit and let the guy who made it work out the solution to the pollution.”

Awareness is one thing, attitude is another. As Gaertner observes in India “We have the best environmental laws and regulations in place but very lax implementation.”

This rings true in Indonesia as well. The government here also has a ‘Blue Skies’ program for reducing vehicle emissions and yet filth spewing un-maintained private sector buses are a common eye-sore. There is random emission testing and even hefty fines, but ultimately a compromise is met at street level between both underpaid driver and policeman and the consequence to the environment is literally breath taking.

It is not enough to expect governments of these nations let alone their humble people to take responsibility for their actions. The issue is global. It’s time the international community as a whole took a broader view of the problem facing the planet, stepped up to the plate and really enforced the kind of protocols such as the Kyoto agreement. For everyone. No exception.

We are all in this together.

]]> http://www.indogreenies.com/review-asia-the-green-issue/feed 0 http://www.indogreenies.com/kemang-festival-goes-green http://www.indogreenies.com/kemang-festival-goes-green#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:07:08 +0000 admin http://www.indogreenies.com/?p=15

Yayang’s mum and dad and sister Ani and her kid Vivi and cousin Rina were over for the week-end.
It really is a god send for me that Indonesian’s have such a close knit family structure. At 10 months, Jessy can be a real handful, so it’s great to have family around to keep her entertained.

On Sundays I have the Jakarta Post delivered to my house. I don’t subscribe to the rest of the week because it’s too depressing. Sunday’s paper is a leisurely read though. Simon’s column always gives me a laugh. On this Sunday there was a front page article about the Kemang Festival. Vivi spotted a clown on stilts in the accompanying photo, so we decided to make a family outing out of it and head down to check it out.

The theme for the Festival was ‘Green Kemang’ in an attempt to raise public awareness about the environment. The main road in Kemang was closed to traffic and stalls lined the streets. There were a couple of bands playing and the usual loud MC yelling enthusiastically into a microphone. A few ‘Green’ stalls here and there , which was encouraging to see but I felt they were a little lost on the idea of how to ‘Green’ Jakarta. A couple of young nice looking Uni girls were handing out WWF brochures showing people how to conserve energy – the usual ‘turn your lights off to reduce the Green house effect’ thing.

It’s not really fair to criticize because they are making an effort. I wonder though, I they feel futile in their efforts, like I do, when you consider the rate at which forest is being cut down and the powers-that-be that you are up against should you wish to protest.

There were a number of Bamboo-styled bins along the streets demonstrating how to separate organic waste from non-organic waste. I noticed a street scavenger who was probably delighted by this concept as she only had to go through the non-organic bin to find her recyclables without having to ferret through the mouldy muck.

The BIKE TO WORK community were there as well. Pioneering warriors for clean air on an uphill battle.

A twenty minute stroll up the street was about as festive as my camp wanted to get though. One things for sure ; mid-day in Jakarta is hot outside. If you bike to work, you’d want to leave early.

The humble folk of Kemang seemed to be enjoying themselves though. It never ceases to amaze me how the kids over here seem so happy despite the hardships they endure on a daily basis.