The Green Journey

Did you know that for 1 tonne of computer waste (for eg, obsolete hardware that is thrown out), it took 20 tonnes of raw resources to manufacture them?

That was one of the facts that was shared by our partner Wild Asia.

Yesterday they assisted in conducting a workshop for staff from various Malaysia Airlines departments. The turnout was rather good- there was a good spread of participation from cargo, commercial, IT, the training academy staff; just to name a few. We covered the effects of not being green or practising conservation or looking at the 3R’s.

Participants in a game of self-introduction

We also looked at the simple ways that individuals can contribute, even in small ways. One such example was the Head of Group IT’s Business Solutions Group.

She had indeed made a pledge at the Townhall session, where she would stop using styrofoam products (I still have that pledge in the office!) True to her word, at her office she has since “mandated” that there would be no styrofoam cups for use in the pantry; where instead, she had replaced them with porcelain cups. If disposal cups are needed, it would have to be paper cups.

Good on you Suhana!

We also talked about how to get the rest of the department and company in on the conservation action. Ideas included staff incentives, competition, having conveniently located recycling bins, etc.

Sharing conservation tips

Not surprisingly though, the paramount concern shared by the participants is that there may not be (enough) support from management, particularly from HR and Property departments. I shared that, rightly so, management at the moment is more concerned with the EU ETS and the whole carbon (hedging) market. Such initiatives are on management’s radar, but just maybe not top priority.

Not saying that they would not participate, rather it is more of an issue of instilling and installing the proper policies and processes to support such activities. It has to come from the top.

It is therefore our task to bring this up to management’s attention. If we are serious in our journey towards sustainability, then this is the first of many steps.

At the end of the workshop, everyone was given a 3-month long “assignment”: To measure and monitor our water and electricity use, as well as the amount of garbage that is disposed.

It will be interesting to see what the figures are like, and also, how many will still be as keen on this journey as they were yesterday.

Reminders!