Green campaign

Green campaign

I was surprised to read the article on page 7 entitled
Activists attack green campaign as 'lip service' (The Jakarta
Post, April 29, 1996).

As far as I know, the green consumerism campaign is meant to
be environmentally friendly. However, the reverse has occurred.
It was stressed in the discussion that entrepreneurs and
industries should serve as a moral strength to realize the green
consumerism ideal.

As an example, PT Aqua Golden Mississippi has donated Rp 800
million to the Dana Mitra Lingkungan foundation. This Aqua
environmental program is not a mere "Public Relations Exercise".

However, strangely enough, this noble act of that company has
been interpreted in such a biased way that the result could be
perceived as an attack on the Aqua enterprise. Not to mention the
fact that a number of senior staff members of the company were
present on that occasion.

H. Hartono, head of the Aqua Concerns Program, inquired about
the criteria for perfect environmental friendliness. In that
context I suggested that Aqua should in due course try to obtain
the ISO Certificate 14000, which contains the aspect of life
cycle analysis.

Aqua Consumers' Claim Department's Dr. Christanto even added
that a study has yet to be conducted on the impact of the
ozonization process on human beings.

So, how could such an apparent attack against Aqua be
justified, noting that it was Aqua that sponsored the discussion?

EKA BUDIANTA

Executive Director

Dana Mitra Lingkungan

Jakarta