Business

Friday October 2, 2009

We can go green if we try hard enough

Frida Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu


AS a young boy, Dr Enki Tan saw logging trucks passing by his house but he noticed that the logs they carried became smaller by the years.

His little curious mind wondered why, prompting him to embark on an environmental journey. Today, he is a board member of Conservation International, which has adopted part of the forest in a neighbouring country where peat and forest fires has choked us for many years.

The adoption has paved the way for reforestation, conservation and sustainability in that country.

In the same way, his own company, Giti Tires Pte Ltd, is into the green theme, using rice husks to run the generators that produce steam for some of its tire processes.

Many millionaires and billionaires attending the Forbes CEO Global Conference this week listened to Tan intently when he told the story of the logging trucks and how he landed in Conservation International.

Among them was Wal-Mart Stores Inc chairman S. Robson Walton. Wal-Mart, a believer in sustainability, is the world’s biggest retailer.

Today, over 200 million of Wal-Mart customers are assured that its plastic wraps are made of corn starch. The retailer works with suppliers that are also on the sustainability bandwagon despite operating in 15 countries.

Sustainability helps Wal-Mart save cost and enables its customers to “save more to have a better life’’.

A catchy phrase, but what matters is that Wal-Mart is on the sustainability bandwagon. Just like Wal-Mart, Ikea, Body Shop, Jusco and many other retailers are also on the sustainability theme.

For starters, they are saying no to “plastic bags”, and charge for use of plastic bags.

Sustainablity should not be an ad hoc project or a philanthropic programme. Doing away with plastic bags can be the first step in an organisation but the commitment should be driven from the top, as sustainability is a long journey.

Tan says going green is an area filled with opportunities, so there are lots of opportunities on revenue and cost savings, but only if companies dare to take that journey.

Sustainability reporting is becoming the norm globally as 80% of the world’s 250 largest companies issue such reports.

Bursa Malaysia is looking to introduce the Sustainability Index and the Government is likely to come up with some guidelines on how Malaysia should be moving into the area of sustainability.

It would be good to make it mandatory for some industries to use renewable energy, reduce carbon footprint and recycle waste.

The Government should also hold a nationwide programme to educate people on how to be environmental friendly.

The shift towards going green should be embraced by everyone. Sustainability, climate change and eco-system are big words, so can one person make any difference?

As a consumer, you have the power to decide whether to support a product that is environmental friendly. If you care for the environment, you will make the right choice and that small decision today can help heal the planet so that future generations will have abundance.

As an individual, you can reduce your own carbon footprint, recycle your waste, cut wastages, use containers to buy meat, poultry and seafood when going to the market, use environmental-friendly laundry detergents, bring your own coffee mug to work, don’t pollute the earth, use energy-saving bulbs, save water, and the list goes on.

If you make that change now and 10 others do the same, collectively, there can be progress in sustainability. Just thinking about it, without action, obviously will not help.

Be conscious and the next time you blow your nose, use two instead of four tissues or even a handkerchief although you may be considered “uncool”. You may have just saved a tree with that action. The choice is really yours. You decide whether you want a greener place!

● B.K. Sidhu is deputy news editor. She hopes retailers will not raise prices just because they are going green.

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