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Local groups making effort to turn the city green
By Shi Xiaohan |
May 11, 2011, Wednesday
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THE rapid economic growth of China has brought about environmental challenges across the country. Hangzhou is no exception. As a scenic city, Hangzhou is trying to balance its economic development with environmental preservation. Therefore, various non-governmental organizations have been founded by citizens, including expats, to unite such efforts and help the city go green.
Accumulating little changes
Hangzhou Eco-culture Association (HZECA) was founded in 2002 by Ruan Junhua, a professor from the Environment and Resource College of Zhejiang University.
As the only officially registered environmental NGO in the city, the organization has struggled to survive in the past decade. However, from last year, the organization started to have full-time staff, starting a new phase of development.
"We survived with our stable and determined core members and passionate volunteers," said Qi Zhijian, secretary general of the association.
Today, the organization has around 100,000 members from various backgrounds including students, teachers, government officials and businessmen. Retirees like Qi are also active participants in the organization's activities.
The organization has projects of all scales from community campaigns promoting green lifestyle to a Qiantang River water protection project. The initiative is in cooperation with the World Environment Federation, a water protection organization based in the United States.
"Promotional campaigns are necessary," said Qi. "However, I think we need more long-term and down-to-earth efforts reaching out for the change."
Regular HZECA programs include reusing cooking oil to make soaps and garbage-sorting competitions in schools and local communities.
"It is not difficult to learn the garbage-sorting rules, what is hard however is to change people's daily life habits," said Qi.
She believes it is her organization's mission to work on the small changes that make the difference.
"The most rewarding thing for us is to see how our efforts help to change people's behavior and habits, especially young people, as they will live with their newly developed environmentally friendly lifestyle thereafter," said Qi.
Expats' initiative
Wesley Allred from the US has been working in Hangzhou for a renewable energy company since 2009. Later the same year, he founded environmental group Hangzhou Green Drinks and organized the first event in January 2010.
Green Drinks is an international organization active in more than 700 cities worldwide. It is an informal gathering for people working in the environmental, energy and sustainability fields and other individuals interested in green issues. Hangzhou is the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a Green Drinks group.
"In Hangzhou, we've changed the target a little bit as there are not so many foreigners working in these fields. If we just keep the group for networking, maybe it is not so useful. We decided to give presentations, so when people come they can learn something interesting," Allred said.
The first presentation was on January 2010 with some 25 people. In December, more than 80 people showed up. "In order to make a difference, we are trying to get more local Chinese to get involved," Allred explained.
As a professional in sustainable energy, Allred sees great necessity for him to make the city greener. "As people are getting richer, they want to get a higher living standard. But new cars, computers and apartments are using so much energy. We want to make the developments more energy efficient," he said.
Preserving nature
It shouldn't always be a headache to protect the environment, sometimes it can be a pleasure. Zhejiang Wild Bird Society (ZWBS), founded in December 2002, provides its members such an opportunity. More than 300 members have joined the society since then.
"People join the organization for different reasons: some love watching birds, others enjoy photographing rare species. But all of them love to embrace nature and interact with wildlife," said Wu Xiaoli, deputy secretary general of the organization.
Campaigns for bird protection are held by ZWBS every year during Bird-loving Week (April 24-30) and in winter. In 2007, ZWBS volunteers took turns to look after baby Mandarin ducks on the West Lake to make sure they grew up without being disturbed. This particular action raised the organization's profile in the city.
Fan Zhongyong, president of the organization, believes continuous efforts are needed to preserve the natural habitat for wild birds. "Urbanization poses a huge challenge for birds to find areas to inhabit," said Fan. "The situation can be improved when we reach out to protect them."
While appreciating birds, some members voluntarily take action to protect the birds by reporting illegal bird-hunting cases to the authorities. "Sometimes they tear the bird-hunting nets down themselves when it is safe," said Wu.
Accumulating little changes
Hangzhou Eco-culture Association (HZECA) was founded in 2002 by Ruan Junhua, a professor from the Environment and Resource College of Zhejiang University.
As the only officially registered environmental NGO in the city, the organization has struggled to survive in the past decade. However, from last year, the organization started to have full-time staff, starting a new phase of development.
"We survived with our stable and determined core members and passionate volunteers," said Qi Zhijian, secretary general of the association.
Today, the organization has around 100,000 members from various backgrounds including students, teachers, government officials and businessmen. Retirees like Qi are also active participants in the organization's activities.
The organization has projects of all scales from community campaigns promoting green lifestyle to a Qiantang River water protection project. The initiative is in cooperation with the World Environment Federation, a water protection organization based in the United States.
"Promotional campaigns are necessary," said Qi. "However, I think we need more long-term and down-to-earth efforts reaching out for the change."
Regular HZECA programs include reusing cooking oil to make soaps and garbage-sorting competitions in schools and local communities.
"It is not difficult to learn the garbage-sorting rules, what is hard however is to change people's daily life habits," said Qi.
She believes it is her organization's mission to work on the small changes that make the difference.
"The most rewarding thing for us is to see how our efforts help to change people's behavior and habits, especially young people, as they will live with their newly developed environmentally friendly lifestyle thereafter," said Qi.
Expats' initiative
Wesley Allred from the US has been working in Hangzhou for a renewable energy company since 2009. Later the same year, he founded environmental group Hangzhou Green Drinks and organized the first event in January 2010.
Green Drinks is an international organization active in more than 700 cities worldwide. It is an informal gathering for people working in the environmental, energy and sustainability fields and other individuals interested in green issues. Hangzhou is the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a Green Drinks group.
"In Hangzhou, we've changed the target a little bit as there are not so many foreigners working in these fields. If we just keep the group for networking, maybe it is not so useful. We decided to give presentations, so when people come they can learn something interesting," Allred said.
The first presentation was on January 2010 with some 25 people. In December, more than 80 people showed up. "In order to make a difference, we are trying to get more local Chinese to get involved," Allred explained.
As a professional in sustainable energy, Allred sees great necessity for him to make the city greener. "As people are getting richer, they want to get a higher living standard. But new cars, computers and apartments are using so much energy. We want to make the developments more energy efficient," he said.
Preserving nature
It shouldn't always be a headache to protect the environment, sometimes it can be a pleasure. Zhejiang Wild Bird Society (ZWBS), founded in December 2002, provides its members such an opportunity. More than 300 members have joined the society since then.
"People join the organization for different reasons: some love watching birds, others enjoy photographing rare species. But all of them love to embrace nature and interact with wildlife," said Wu Xiaoli, deputy secretary general of the organization.
Campaigns for bird protection are held by ZWBS every year during Bird-loving Week (April 24-30) and in winter. In 2007, ZWBS volunteers took turns to look after baby Mandarin ducks on the West Lake to make sure they grew up without being disturbed. This particular action raised the organization's profile in the city.
Fan Zhongyong, president of the organization, believes continuous efforts are needed to preserve the natural habitat for wild birds. "Urbanization poses a huge challenge for birds to find areas to inhabit," said Fan. "The situation can be improved when we reach out to protect them."
While appreciating birds, some members voluntarily take action to protect the birds by reporting illegal bird-hunting cases to the authorities. "Sometimes they tear the bird-hunting nets down themselves when it is safe," said Wu.
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