Pop top and environment

There are many grave threats to the global environment and even more threats to Indonesia's beauty. Many mills and factories dump their effluent into streams. Developers destroy forests and farms while urban sprawl threatens much of the country.

The Jakarta Post recently published a letter from Ted and Jea Henning from the USA which, in the name of environmental concern, criticized the Coca Cola company in Indonesia for producing its drinks in pop-top (pull tab) cans. They called it a travesty. Apparently they never had a Bintang or Anker beer while they "Lived and worked in Indonesia." They also apparently never walked on the same beaches I did, where the last thing you worry about stepping on is a pop top.

When there are so many potentially destructive practices to protest against, so many irresponsible polluters to criticize, the protesting of pop-tops is almost irresponsibly stupid. Did these people ever walked down a street outside Pondok Indah. Did they ever even see a Jakarta street other than through the tinted glass of their air conditioned car?

Coca Cola cans a travesty? The real travesty is that the Hennings might be considered representative of people who truly are environmentally concerned. This pseudo-concern over a triviality contributes to the real global environmental problem- apathy.

GARY GENTRY

Jakarta