I IitaI yh
The Seventies
5
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I01 t\ 8 f I
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ftfti
Tlie Twenthietk Century (VIII)
Tekst: Juul Lentze
We had been to th
ne moon
What
were we going
to do f<
or an encore
in the new decade? We saw for the first time how our home loohed
as seen from the moon, which itself was pale and colorless and
which environment was hostile to man. But not so our planet. /15 a
beautiful blue globe it appeared on the moon's horizon, looking so
small and vulnerable in black space. We live on that globe, for now it
is the only place in the universe where we can survive, and yet we
don 't always respect its life-giving beauty.
Years ago, when we
lived out in the
country on the
island of Java, every so often our kebon
would dig an enormous hole. All of the
every-day garbage (except things like tin
cans, boxes, old lampshades, bottles,
shoes, tires, et cetera) ended up in the
hole. They were burned to ashes and
absorbed by the soil, making it even
more fertile.
Recycle
Perhaps the smoke polluted, but it did
not emit great quantities of poisonous
gasses, because pretty much everything
was organic. Very few chemicals were in
use then. In the city a bullock cart would
pick up the garbage, which were dum
ped as far away as possible, and burned
too.
We were not familiar with the word
recycle and yet in those days more was
recycled than we knew. Indonesians are
a very ingenious people and they could
think of a use for just about every
thing that was discarted.
The paman rombeng would make his
rounds and buy as many used articles he
could lay his hands on. Soon you would
buy a nice ladle made out of your old tin
can. The cows that belonged to the cas
sava plantation would wear trompahs
made out of old tires to protect their
hoofs. Your old lampshade would come
back brandnew and somebody some
where would be very happy with a pair
of slippers made from your old shoes.
Very little cluttered up our living space.
Ear th Day
What do we do today with all the things
we acquire, all the things that we really
don't need but that we simply have to
have? In many instances we give things
away to the less fortunate, but just as
often we discard them at the curb. Our
dumps are mountains of garbage and all
the chemical, nuclear, and other kinds of
waste pollutes our atmosphere, our
rivers and our oceans.
The balance between man and nature
has been disturbed and if we don't chan
ge our wasteful ways the earth will not
be able to support us much longer.
To make us aware of this possible cata
strophe, April 22, 1970 was proclamed
Earth Day, a day that is supposed to
remind us of the necessity to clean up
our act. Literally. We can only hope that
each and everyone of us recycles as
much as possible. That we will be able
to clean up the mess we have made -
especially with chemicals - before we
choke our blue planet and thereby our
selves to death.
After this gloom-and-doom scenario we
needed something to perk us up a little
and along came the happy face.
'Smiley', as it is called, was seen every
where. On t-shirts, buttons, and anyt
hing else it could be appropriately
printed on. Now it even has appeared
on a postage stamp! It is a wonderful
design that speaks to all of us and is irre
sistible. It will make you smile.
I liked it so much that I -
not very original, to be
sure - incorporated it in
my signature to
friends and aquain-
tances. It is such a
simple and yet
such a powerful
way of spreading
good cheer.
Jumbo jet
In 1957,1 flew from Amsterdam
to New York in a Connie, short for
Constellation. It took quite a few hours
to cross the Atlantic, because the plane
was propeller driven. In 1958 all this
changed when the Boeing 707, outfitted
with jet engines came into use, able to
carry two hundred passengers on a
transcontinental flight.
But then in 1970 came the first 'jumbo
jet'. The Boeing 747 crossed the oceans
even faster and it could carry about four
hundred passengers! Unheard of. Its tail
alone was several stories high. Pan
American World Airways flew the first
jumbo jet and I believe its name was the
Clipper Juan Tripp, in honor of
PanAm's founder.
My brother Charles worked for the air
line and told us enthusiastically about
what a wonderful and unbelievably big
plane this 747 was with its four mighty
44 ste jaargang - nummer 8 - februari 2000
19
