It’s a beautiful Spring day in Paris and I’m writing this piece in a café just a spit away from the Moulin Rouge and a twig throw away from the Sacre Coeur where bunches of tourists sit on the steps of the Basilica enjoying an uninterrupted view of the entire city while listening to an amateur reggae band with beaten up amplifiers doing their stuff on the guitars and watching street artists performing amusing pantomimes for a handful of change.
Nearby an old man in a wheelchair is attracting passersby with his handicraft – toy key chains made of iron piping covered in plastic fur and shaped into little animals. ‘Thank you for your appreciation’, he said politely in French every time someone hands him 2 Euro for a piece of his work of art as he twists and bends the wires into something resembling a monkey.
I am in Paris to watch a student business challenge competition organised by French based company Danone. The night before, nine teams of students coming from nine different countries including Indonesia presented their business proposals to Danone executives on their strategies to make the company more environmentally responsible while generating healthy profits at the same time.
The Indonesian team, from the University of Indonesia didn’t manage to win this final international round – it went to the student team from Portugal – however, their ideas along with those from Romania, Czech, the US, China, Belgium, Turkey and Russia were all equally brilliant.
One would think that if global companies are run by smart, talented and energetic young people like these who could come up with fresh, innovative and creative ideas in the space of five hours and with tools not more sophisticated than colouring pens, sheets of paper, post-it stickers and blue tacks, the companies would not only achieve high profit margins but be more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable.
The business challenge the students were given was how to produce bottled mineral waters in a more environmentally conscious way by cutting down the amount of plastic waste generated and finding less energy consuming transportation and distribution methods. The strategies the students proposed include creating square plastic bottles (because square bottles take up less space than round ones, thus reducing the amount of plastic used), to creating water fountains around the cities where people can refill their own containers thus cutting down the amount of plastic waste and the need to recycle.
Alternative transportations offered include using bicycles and also boats pulled by kites. All promise to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and make the company less susceptible to criticisms by NGOs. The students act as the company’s board of directors making proposals and recommendations to the board of chairmen who would decide in which of the nine brilliant ideas presented they would invest their dollars.
Yes, environmentally responsible companies can and should help save the world from global warming and not contribute to the global pollution. The young should be encouraged to be involved and to come up with their own ideas and strategies for finding the right solution.
Then the volcano erupted in Iceland and dust enveloped the European pristine spring skies. As I’m writing this all flights coming in and going out of France are cancelled and the airport closed. As a matter of fact, most European airports are at a standstill. Apparently volcanic dust is dangerous to aircrafts flying at over thirty thousand feet as it could get into and damage the engines.
The couple sitting next to me are fretting because their flight to Warsaw is cancelled. So is the flight to Prague where one of the student’s leaders comes from. He desperately needs to go home, he says, not only because his wife is waiting but also because he has already plans for the weekend. I tell him that I don’t think anyone would be flying out of Charles de Gaulle anytime soon. The news say that it would take at least 48 hours for things to clear up and return to normal. That is, if there is no further eruption or volcanic activities coming from Iceland and the wind stops blowing in this direction.
I try not to think about my own flight home, which is due for a couple of days. I suppose there are a lot worse places to be stuck in other than ‘gai’ Paris. But the idea of Europe standing still because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland is almost surreal. Just think, no air travel throughout the entire Europe for days in a row, the number of flights cancelled and businesses disrupted. Forget about airline strikes, those planes are not going anywhere at least for a couple of days. We are in effect saving a huge amount of energy and pollution from drastically reduced air travel, though not in the way we intend it.
It seems when it comes to the environment, we humans still don’t have the blue print; and I’m beginning that our strategies, ideas and solutions for a greener earth and more sustainable future are just doodles with colouring pens and sticky notes.
When Mother Earth coughs up a bit of ash, our talk of global warming becomes hot air and our clever theories evaporate.
In the meantime, I’ll just sit around and enjoy my springtime in Paris.
(Desi Anwar: First published in Tempo English)
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