Zcause Blog; Anthony Zolezzi.com

Visit to South African sanctuary an awareness-raising experience

June 28, 2010

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days on the Sabi Sand Reserves and Kruger National Park, South Africa. It was an amazing experience being feet from lions that had just finished eating a llama, and to encounter elephants, rhinos and giraffes all drinking from the same pond right in front of me.

Observing these various species in their natural surroundings can’t help but make one aware of what an efficient, orderly scheme of existence nature has designed Everything about it works together in an ecological balance, from the elephants knocking down trees and only eating the bark, leaving the leaves for other species that will need them because the grasses are drying up, to lions leaving the bones of their kills for hyenas and termites building mounds that shelter hyena cubs.

Everything has its time and place – whether it’s “working” in the relatively cool hours of the night, or just finding a secluded patch of grass when it gets light to roll in and fall asleep until dark.

I was marveling about all this when it occurred to me that the species hiding behind the door of the Range Rover was really the weakest of them all. It’s the same species that is rapidly destroying its habitat while failing to play a symbiotic role in regard to the other species with whom is shares the planet. If nothing else, spending time as an observer in the South African bush has helped me to realize that over and above achieving sustainability, we have to find our real role in helping perpetuate the survival of our fellow creatures, But instead of determining where we fit into Mother Nature’s grand design, perhaps as its custodians, our tendency has been to treat the natural world as an obstacle to be overcome and defeated – for example, by decimating the many exotic animals that exist in an environment such as this by ruthlessly hunting them down for profits and trophies.

Is it possible that we can reclaim our role as preservationists, rather than destroyers? The existence of protected environmental enclaves, like the ones I’ve just visited in the South African bush, is a hopeful sign that it is. Just as in those World Cup matches that have created such an aura of excitement in this country, we human beings simply have to learn to become team players.

South Africa visit during World Cup games
a joyous diversion in time of anger and angst

June 26, 2010

When I realized that my trip to the Fortune Global Forum in the heart of South Africa would coincide with the World Cup competition taking place in that country, my first reaction was, “Oh no!” But what I didn't realize is that I should have said, “Wow!”

What an incredible experience this has turned out to be, sharing a festival atmosphere with people from around the globe, with everyone all decked out in colors representing their various countries. Even before the plane left Buenos Aires for Johanesburg, people were having fun, with fathers and sons blowing their (not as obnoxious as I thought they might be) vuvuzela horns and displaying their pride in their countries. To witness all these celebratory folks from all over the world descending on South Africa has turned this into a most extraordinary trip for me. Now I, too, am kind of caught up in the energy and enthusiasm, and, who knows, may even include a game on my agenda.

What could be better right about now, at a time of such sad and discouraging developments, then to see the people of the world coming together for fun and games in such a festive and convivial frame of mind?

From my ‘Oil-Covered Gulf of Mexico Blues’
comes a new song of hope for the environment

June 16, 2010

This past week I had to admit to one of my business friends that for the first time in many years I’d had a day where I was totally depressed with the state of things. I found myself reading a magazine on a plane and instead of the typical joy I derive from finding a new morsel of info or insight, I found myself feeling pessimistic. Not just pessimistic, but in this weird sort of funk, in which all I could do was shake my head, afflicted as I was with them steadily depressin’, lowdown, mind-messin’ oil-covered Gulf of Mexico blues (to adapt an excerpt from a song by the late Jim Croce).

That night I had dinner with some interesting people, drank a little too much wine and found myself generating nothing but negative vibes. This is totally uncharacteristic of me. Then I realized it was day 49 of the Gulf Oil Catastrophe, which I was reacting to on a couple of levels. First, having grown up in a fishing family, I have always had the deepest reverence and respect for our oceans and marine life. Second, we have had a group down in the gulf since the beginning to record and tell the stories that are not being told-- so every morning after reviewing the news, I call those folks to give them a report, and every night I get a daily update from them. Then it hit me how terribly this whole calamity has affected me and was eroding my core of optimism -- primarily because we haven't been able to turn the corner and make this story either go away or at least know what we are dealing with and get a handle on cleaning it up. The oil just keeps gushing, and viewing that live cam has been killing me. I simply had to get a new perspective on the situation-- one which was provided by my friend Bill Bonvie's commentary piece.

In short, it brought me back to the realization that the environmentalists – and their “client,” Mother Nature -- will ultimately prevail and the consequences-be-damned capitalists will lose. Wall Street has already demonstrated that to us from an economic perspective, and now BP has proven it to us from an environmental standpoint as well. So now I am again hopeful -- hopeful that that we will change our infrastructure to mimic nature instead of attempting to control it, that cost cutting when it comes to potential environmental impact will be gone forever, and that America will once more take the lead in protecting the well-being of the world.

So today I’ll say God Bless the Green Movement, and let’s help it tell the world what we’ve learned from this experience. Just with BP’s annual $12 billion dollar dividend, we could sponsor a pretty incredible advertising campaign to help educate consumers around the planet on just how important our environment. is to all of us. But we don’t have to wait for such a campaign to get the ball rolling, since technology has already provided us with the tools to spread the word ourselves. So how about it, Greenopolis subscribers? Let’s hear your expressions of support – and your ideas – on how this disastrous defeat for the environment can inspire us to take action that will make the world safe for Mother Nature once again.

Deconstruction: Discovering an approach to problem-solving in a hotel dining room

June 7, 2010

The other evening I was having dinner with my Partner Paul Wolff at Houston’s ZaZa Hotel and he ordered a “deconstructed Ahi roll”—which meant that the ahi, rice, avocado, ginger and seaweed skin where all separated and elegantly displayed on the plate. I looked at it and said, “Wow, that is different,” to which he replied, “ I order it all the time. I like eating the component parts versus all together.” Inspired by his comments, I ordered a “deconstructed Caesar salad” So what did that mean? It came as plain, chopped hearts of Romaine in a bowl by themselves, with separate side dishes of anchovies, croutons, parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing and olive oil. This was a total treat, one that enabled me to carefully maneuver every ingredient on the Romaine just the way I wanted it, rather than having to settle for a combo that I might or might not find satisfactory.

Now why I am recounting all this? Because for me, discovering these deconstructed dishes was an epiphany of sorts -- one of those serendipitous “eureka moments” that made me realize how in order to devise really effective ways of eliminating toxins from our environment and dealing with all the other pressing concerns facing our society, such as health care and education, we must first “deconstruct” all of our preconceived, existing ideas, infrastructures and paradigms.

Take glass recycling, for instance. Suppose we were to deconstruct the haphazard system we now use and offer the consumer incentives to separate glass according to type and color? Think of the energy that could be saved by separating out wine and beer bottles in a manner that would allow them to be sterilized and reused ,rather than simply added to the recycling pile.

Another example of what I’m talking about in the area of infrastructure is the way our eggs are produced. The fact that most existing facilities have cages, which are eligible for a depreciation allowance under our tax code, encourages major egg producers to go on using them, rather than opting for healthier cage-free eggs laid under more humane conditions. But what if we were to deconstruct this entire industry by offering tax credits for cage-free production? The Humane Society of the United States has been doing a fantastic job of demonstrating the viability of such a system, but to accomplish this on an industry-wide basis, we need to provide the financial incentives to physically separate the hens from the cages.

Similarly in need of deconstruction is the way we package and market commodities like milk and juice. Were we to start over to create the most convenient, energy-efficient way of doing so, would we settle for the familiar "gable top" carton now in use? Would we really go on creating a product that uses a valuable resource like a tree, add a petro-based wax to make it waterproof and then choose to insert a plastic screw cap on the side? The only reason we engage in this absolutely wasteful practice, in my opinion, is that the equipment for doing so already in place. In most other places in the world, milk is transported in pouches that go into pitchers in the household -- but simply because we’re set up to do it this way.

In short, I think the chef’s at the ZaZa Hotel are on to something, and I plan to take it well beyond food. So stay tuned for more of the “deconstruction” proposals I’m now in the process of formulating.

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