Sky's the limit in fight to save ozone

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): The next time you go to the supermarket to buy, say, hair spray, air freshener, deodorant or insect killer, read the labels. There you will find an Ozone Friendly, Ozone Save, Environment Friendly, CFC-Free or No CFC label.

If you have never before noticed this label, which guarantees the product will not pose a danger to the environment, you are not alone.

"I buy this hair spray because I like the product," said a customer at Hero supermarket in Mal Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta.

When asked whether she knew about the Ozone Save label on the hair spray can, she said: "No... if I buy something, I only read the usage information."

Such labels are meant to inform consumers that a product does not contain CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), one of the substances which depletes the ozone.

The need to protect the ozone layer was first discussed by the governing council of the United Nations Environment Program in 1976. But the breakthrough on ozone protection came with the adoption of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1997, which is marked every Sept. 16 as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

This year's commemoration, themed Save Our Sky: Be Ozone Friendly, is aimed at encouraging people to take action to reduce and eliminate damage to the stratospheric ozone layer caused by the products they buy, the appliances and equipment they use in their households and offices and the manufacturing processes employed by their companies.

The ozone layer is essential to life on earth, because it absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun and completely screens out lethal UV-radiation. The depletion of the ozone means more UV-B radiation will reach the earth.

Scientists have long know that more UV-B means more melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, more eye cataracts, weakened immune systems, reduced plant yields and damage to ocean ecosystems, among other things.

With increasing environmental awareness among the public and strong pressure from environmental activists, customers can now find numerous products, ranging from deodorant to insect killer, bearing the green label.

Publicly listed PT Bayer Indonesia, a diversified international chemical and pharmaceutical company, has been able to put the "environment friendly" label on its popular Baygon insect killer and Bayfresh air freshener since 1993.

"This is to show our responsibility toward the environment, in accordance with (the company's) Responsible Care principles, while at the same time informing consumers that the products are safe for the ozone layer," the assistant to the company's president director, Inge Lianggara, said.

She added that most customers in Indonesia still purchased products based on their preferred brands. However, at the same time, the company has also noticed a growing environmental awareness among consumers, she said.

"For Bayer, (the rising environmental awareness and customers' preference for brands) are just fine since customers trust our brands while the protection and the safety of the environment has also become one of our priorities and commitments," Inge said.

However, simply placing environmental-friendly labels on products will not put an end to environmental degradation.

A survey by the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center and the Green Consumers Institute (Lemkohi) discovered that some environmental friendly claims were misleading.

The survey examined 48 items from 13 categories, including aerosol deodorants, air fresheners and shampoos, in seven supermarkets in Bogor and Jakarta, and found some claims of environmental friendliness were misleading at best.

For instance, the survey found products with "no animal testing" labels although there was never any need to test the products on animals. Also, some products carried "please recycle" labels even though the manufacturers did not provide recycling facilities.

Lemkohi chairman Sjafei Kadarusman even said that there were products claiming to be "ozone friendly" turned up containing hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), another ozone depleting substance.

"So, the (ozone friendly) claim is not completely true. Although HCFCs have less impact than CFCs, it's still an ozone depleting substance," Sjafei told the Post.

HCFCs were developed as the first major replacement for CFCs. While much less destructive than CFCs, HCFCs also contribute to ozone depletion and have an atmospheric lifetime of 1.4 to 19.5 years. Other ozone depleting substances include halons, methyl chloroform and methyl bromide.

Sjafei blamed low public awareness of the effort to save the ozone layer on the failure to disseminate information to the public, although the government has ratified a number of international agreements, including the Montreal Protocol in 1992. Following the 1992 issuance of a presidential decree on the matter, various parties, including businesses, agreed to phase out ozone-depleting substances by 1997.

However, Sjafei realizes it will take a long time for Indonesians to become green consumers.

"People here tend to look at prices, for cheaper products, instead of their long-term benefits... So the effort to raise people's environmental awareness will be tough work."