Sleeping with the Enemy Naked hippies, you're a minority and people think you smell by Anna Gurney

If the environmental criminals are companies that equate greenwashing with social responsibility, then the hero at the other end of this spectrum is Joan Martinez, an extreme hippy. He smells of onions, has dreadlocks to his waist, and is trying to live without money. Still, though his negative environmental impact is as close to zero as being alive allows, I question whether his approach will achieve his aims.

Firstly, although this earnest killjoy is right to point out my ecological sins, it occurs to me that a huge proportion of the population would never speak to a man with such skanky hair, let alone allow him to influence their behaviour. The same goes for the group from Can Masdeu who invited me to go dancing in the forest last week, or Eva, a fellow student who suggested getting naked to promote the abolition of foreign debt, or the recently launched Inspiraction organisation which, despite the great name, adopted a braless mulleted woman in a cheap vest as one of the faces of their campaign. The intentions may be spot on, but these groups’ public personae reinforce stereotypes that less liberal organizations will always use to brush them aside. “Those bloody ranting crusties again!”

Joan’s adopted zero-carbon lifestyle will save 4.5 tons over the next six months (compared to the average Spaniard). But if one office block in Barcelona turned up its air-conditioning by one degree, 90 tons would be saved in the same period. The reality is that if we want to make big changes, we must start communicating with the “enemy” (read: any business that ignores the costs of desecrating the planet’s natural resources). And Corporate Social Responsibility policies (CSR) have to make this easier.

We are not powerless to demand environmentally sound behaviour from companies, but organisation is the key, and individuals must pick good initiatives to support. One group taking positive action is the Catalan think tank, Responsabilitat Global. Its promoter, Josep Canyelles, has pioneered the idea of “Territorios Socialmente Responsables” (TSRs). Rather than allowing companies to regulate themselves, which, unsurprisingly, isn’t working, each “territory” is formed by a group of businesses, universities, and civil service representatives who listen to each other. They are launching a network of TSRs across Spain with a view to promoting the long-term importance of genuine responsibility and developing integrated environmental policies that can be adopted by local government. Repsol haven’t jumped at the chance to join the initiative, but several medium-sized businesses are involved.

Though it may feel like selling out to talk with corporations, nonengagement can be equally unproductive. The Raval-based Ropa Limpia campaign lobbies textile companies and outs bad corporate practice on its website. They are doing something valuable by wading through the opaque, glossed-out world of Inditex’s “codes of conduct”, but, for every 3 people on the NGO side, there are 20 employed by Inditex to come up with flowery language about superficial changes like using energy-efficient lightbulbs. Environmental policy-making needs more people like Joan at the table. Being on the inside during the development of corporate responsibility policies may not make the world perfect, but it’s better than adopting a position that can be completely ignored. To sum it up in a wildly simplistic way, if the objective is to make people who aren’t like you listen, you might find wearing a suit more effective than sporting a nose ring.

responsabilitatglobal.blogspot.com
ropalimpia.org
inspiraction.org