LOTUS Travels: Arthus-Bertrand From Above

The work of French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been on display in the middle of Bangkok since June (part of La Fete, the annual French cultural festival. I don't know why it's in Bangkok, but hey, pourquoi pas?). The exhibition, entitled "Earth From Above", shares over thirty aerial portraits taken from all over the globe to remind us how truly beautiful, diverse and mysterious our planet is. Arthus-Bertrand (YAB, for short) created this project to raise our environmental awarenesses and engage in mindful behaviour for sustainable, eco-friendly development.

I read about this exhibit in the Bangkok Post weeks ago but never had the chance to go until yesterday. Amber and I were en route to Platinum, a multi-level wholesale clothing warehouse (this is another story) when we happened upon the "Earth from Above" exhibit right outside of Central World shopping mall. As we were walking off the BTS, we ourselves got an aerial portrait of "Earth from Above". It was curious to see these mindblowing photographs of nature's true wonders amidst the concrete, urban backdrop of one of Bangkok's busiest intersections.

The massive photographs, all original copies, were arranged around the fountain outside the Zen department store at Central World. Each photograph was accompanied with a description, in both English and Thai, about the place where it was taken and then a jaw-dropping factoid - such as, "The world's annual budget for military spending is USD 1000 billion. The figure for development aid is USD 60 billion"

Or, "It takes 1.8 tonnes of material to manufacture a personal computer"

And, "One out of five adults cannot read or write - 98% are from developing countries. Two-thirds are women"

Also, "If everyone was living and consuming as a French person does, we would need two more planets".

This last one threw me a bit - not because I think it's false, but because it makes me wonder why YAB chose to focus on the French. Bien sur, he is French and perhaps wants to share with his compatriots how they're complicit in this thing we're calling global warming. However, if we were all French and all had our own teeny cars (toys really) and we required two more planets - well jeez, how many planets would we need if everyone lived and consumed as Americans? That's what I want to know. Of course though, this would truly be a hypothetical situation because everyone knows that given the choice between the two, you'd want to live and consume as a French person ("consume", as in food, is the key word here). But really, no wonder we were so concerned about whether Pluto was a planet or not. Well, as you can see, this one little factoid got me thinking in a big way (though not an entirely constructive way).

Though the exhibit was simultaneously enlightening, infuriating and inspiring - the most enjoyable thing about the exhibit was seeing how many people were there. Thai schoolchildren, older European tourists, backpackers, young couples, groups of giggly teenage girls - you could just see it on their faces, that they too, were being enlightened, infuriated and inspired. There was one middle-aged Japanese man, armed with a wide-brimmed hat to fight the midday sun, who was copying every single factoid. He would shuffle, portable stool in hand, in between each set of photographs to sit and write down all the statistics about the state of our planet. I just hope everyone who was there took away at least one of the "Simple Actions You Can Take to Save Our Planet". If you don't know what some of these simple actions are, please see all eleven below.

1. Carpool or use public transport if possible.

2. Give your car a health-check and maintain it regularly.

3. Say "NO" to shopping bags whenever possible and reuse or recycle them (Note: Now in Thailand, you can buy fake versions of the popular handbag broadcasting, "I Am NOT a Plastic Bag").

4. Recycle and separate trash before disposal.

5. Always switch off lights and electrical appliances after use.

6. Change light bulbs to energy-saving bulbs.

7. Plant trees and greens.

8. Improve water management

(Another note: I love how Zen & Central World have this huge publicity campaign about "Going Green" surrounding the YAB exhibit - kudos to them. But they need to start practising what they preach and get rid of all their useless and wasteful fountains in front of the mall. Seriously. Water erupts in little spurts from holes in Zen's vast pavement garden out front, splattering the sidewalk and forming puddles that evaporate in the sun. The water isn't even reused like with regular fountains.)

9. Use paper only when necessary.

10. Reuse, recycle and reduce whenever possible.

11. Audit yourself and tell yourself that every little effort counts!