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Every drop is precious to low-carbon tribe
By Ma Shukun and Jiang Xufeng |
December 8, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WANG Wei makes sure that she unplugs all of the electrical appliances in her home when they are not in use.
The move has been inspired by the government's pledge to cut carbon intensity to tackle climate change, said the 31-year-old woman living in Beijing.
The Chinese government unveiled its target last week, ahead of the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, to trim the amount of carbon dioxide emitted for each unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared to the levels in 2005.
She has proposed a low-carbon life style in her blog, calling on more people to avoid using disposable chopsticks, wash clothes by hand, take buses or metros and cut back computer usage.
Actually, the so-called low-carbon life has become trendy and cool in recent years among the generation who are in their 20s and 30s. They, who have felt the pressure of climate change and pollution caused by emission of greenhouse gases, are reducing use of electricity and water, and curbing unnecessary purchases in an attempt to help cut carbon emission. They are therefore given the name of "the low-carbon tribe."
Shi Zhaoyuan has been a member of this tribe for two years. "The climate is really changing. When I was little, Beijing always saw heavy snows in the winter. The snowfalls then piled up to my knees," said Shi, 24, recalling earlier Beijing winters. "Now we can barely see snow here in winter,"
In her mind, a low-carbon life means a thrifty way of living and working. For example, she washes her face and hands in a basin rather than running tap water every day and then saves the water to flush the toilet. She also takes a glass wherever she goes to avoid using disposable paper cups.
The low-carbon tribe is expanding as more and more people stress the Chinese virtue of thrift as a way to improve of the country's environment, said Dr Li Lin, director of conservationsStrategies at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China.
Data from the WWF China showed one day's auto driving would emit 8.17 kg of carbon dioxide. If people use one less watt of electricity, they would help reduce the emission of one kg of carbon dioxide.
As of Wednesday, 130,000 college students from more than 100 universities in 16 cities, including Beijing and Nanjing, had joined a campaign initiated by the WWF China to help cut one kg of carbon emission by saving energy during the week ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit, which runs from Monday to next Friday.
However, among the 1.3 billion Chinese people, not everyone is willing, able or even interested in doing what Li and Shi do. Some find it difficult to persevere and some dismiss or are unaware of the climate change issue.
"Nowadays, many girls in China enjoy buying new dresses but they just hang them in the closet and never wear them. That's quite a waste," Shi said.
"Some people are lost in consumerism as they make more money. They want to buy more things, which sometimes are not needed at all," said Guan Shaobo, the marketing manager of the Beijing-based Website Mosh.cn, the country's largest online event information provider.
Climate change is a result of rampant consumption of natural resources, Dr Li Lin said. Indeed, people should use natural resources to meet their needs and reduce extravagant demand.
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
The move has been inspired by the government's pledge to cut carbon intensity to tackle climate change, said the 31-year-old woman living in Beijing.
The Chinese government unveiled its target last week, ahead of the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, to trim the amount of carbon dioxide emitted for each unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared to the levels in 2005.
She has proposed a low-carbon life style in her blog, calling on more people to avoid using disposable chopsticks, wash clothes by hand, take buses or metros and cut back computer usage.
Actually, the so-called low-carbon life has become trendy and cool in recent years among the generation who are in their 20s and 30s. They, who have felt the pressure of climate change and pollution caused by emission of greenhouse gases, are reducing use of electricity and water, and curbing unnecessary purchases in an attempt to help cut carbon emission. They are therefore given the name of "the low-carbon tribe."
Shi Zhaoyuan has been a member of this tribe for two years. "The climate is really changing. When I was little, Beijing always saw heavy snows in the winter. The snowfalls then piled up to my knees," said Shi, 24, recalling earlier Beijing winters. "Now we can barely see snow here in winter,"
In her mind, a low-carbon life means a thrifty way of living and working. For example, she washes her face and hands in a basin rather than running tap water every day and then saves the water to flush the toilet. She also takes a glass wherever she goes to avoid using disposable paper cups.
The low-carbon tribe is expanding as more and more people stress the Chinese virtue of thrift as a way to improve of the country's environment, said Dr Li Lin, director of conservationsStrategies at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China.
Data from the WWF China showed one day's auto driving would emit 8.17 kg of carbon dioxide. If people use one less watt of electricity, they would help reduce the emission of one kg of carbon dioxide.
As of Wednesday, 130,000 college students from more than 100 universities in 16 cities, including Beijing and Nanjing, had joined a campaign initiated by the WWF China to help cut one kg of carbon emission by saving energy during the week ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit, which runs from Monday to next Friday.
However, among the 1.3 billion Chinese people, not everyone is willing, able or even interested in doing what Li and Shi do. Some find it difficult to persevere and some dismiss or are unaware of the climate change issue.
"Nowadays, many girls in China enjoy buying new dresses but they just hang them in the closet and never wear them. That's quite a waste," Shi said.
"Some people are lost in consumerism as they make more money. They want to buy more things, which sometimes are not needed at all," said Guan Shaobo, the marketing manager of the Beijing-based Website Mosh.cn, the country's largest online event information provider.
Climate change is a result of rampant consumption of natural resources, Dr Li Lin said. Indeed, people should use natural resources to meet their needs and reduce extravagant demand.
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
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