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Clutching at straws to recycle
By Fei Lai |
June 27, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TONS of straw from farmers' fields go up in polluting smoke every year on Chongming Island, and one retired school teacher is turning it into tons of charcoal briquettes. Fei Lai lights the fire.
Chongming County prides itself on being an eco-friendly island of blue skies, clean water and lots of green, but every year tons of burning agricultural waste pollute the atmosphere.
Every year Shanghai produces 1.6 million tons of agricultural straw waste, and 30 percent of that annual output comes from Chongming.
Seeing all this straw and chaff go up in smoke, 67-year-old Ye Tingzhi, a former Chongming school teacher, has been trying to clear the air. He has spent more than 200,000 yuan (US$31,000) of his own funds to buy equipment that compresses and converts the waste into straw charcoal.
So far he has produced 10 tons of charcoal that he sells to a factory that burns it as fuel. He buys the waste from the farmers so they don't burn it.
"It doesn't make much money, that's for sure. But money isn't my goal," says Ye. "What I hope to do is make people around me more aware of the importance of environmental protection."
Farmers burn what straw and other straw in their fields, causing huge fogs and low road visibility. In the past straw was used as fuel for cooking, but the widespread use of propane and natural gas means there's less use for the straw.
"How to deal with it has become a real problem," says Ye.
One small plant on the island can handle 5,000 tons of straw a year, turning it into charcoal, but that's far from enough.
Ye has been concerned about the problem for a long time and has studied disposal and recycling, especially conversion of straw waste into charcoal.
After retirement, he swung into action, visiting Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Henan, a major agricultural province. Equipment to make straw charcoal is available and Ye spent 80,000 yuan to buy a system, which didn't work that well.
Last October he spent more than 100,000 yuan to buy other equipment and consulted experts from the China Agricultural University. His efforts paid off. Fifty tons of waste straw have been converted into more than 10 tons of charcoal.
"Straw charcoal is a kind of cleaner energy," Ye says. "Although it has lower combustion temperature than coal, it costs less and is less polluting to the environment." The local government needs to find a solution to deal with more straw waste and find buyers for straw charcoal," he adds.
Trash into treasure
While Ye is busying turning wheat straw into cleaner energy, Chongming taxi driver Chen Bofeng has been turning straw into artwork for many years.
He produces what are called "straw paintings" and his most famous work is a straw reproduction of the famous ink-wash painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It captures a fascinating variety of daily activities along the river in what is now Kaifeng, Henan Province.
Chen's meticulous reproduction is six meters long and was exhibited at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The work is breathtaking in its detail and viewers are always awed.
On a black silk background, Chen has faithfully fashioned each character - from monks to acrobats - and each animal, pavilion bridge, tree and flower.
It took him five years to complete the work. From human figures to animals, pavilions to bridges, rivers to trees - all shows the taxi driver's great patience and fine technique.
Straw painting or straw patchwork is a Chinese folk art dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). It was enjoyed by royalty during the Song Dynasty. Wheat straw is treated in many ways - smoked, soaked, steamed, bleached, died, cut, carved and fashioned into delicate works.
"It is tedious and takes a long time to finish, but I told myself that I must finish what I begin," says Chen who collects wheat straw from Gangxi Town.
"After cleaning and soaking in water, I carve it with great care and glue it," he says.
Since he was a boy, Chen has practiced straw painting, using every spare moment, even just 30 minutes, to work on a painting.
Earlier Chen created the straw version of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, fashioning more than 6,000 Chinese characters with straw.
"I hope the folk art will flourish with my dedication," he says.
Chongming County prides itself on being an eco-friendly island of blue skies, clean water and lots of green, but every year tons of burning agricultural waste pollute the atmosphere.
Every year Shanghai produces 1.6 million tons of agricultural straw waste, and 30 percent of that annual output comes from Chongming.
Seeing all this straw and chaff go up in smoke, 67-year-old Ye Tingzhi, a former Chongming school teacher, has been trying to clear the air. He has spent more than 200,000 yuan (US$31,000) of his own funds to buy equipment that compresses and converts the waste into straw charcoal.
So far he has produced 10 tons of charcoal that he sells to a factory that burns it as fuel. He buys the waste from the farmers so they don't burn it.
"It doesn't make much money, that's for sure. But money isn't my goal," says Ye. "What I hope to do is make people around me more aware of the importance of environmental protection."
Farmers burn what straw and other straw in their fields, causing huge fogs and low road visibility. In the past straw was used as fuel for cooking, but the widespread use of propane and natural gas means there's less use for the straw.
"How to deal with it has become a real problem," says Ye.
One small plant on the island can handle 5,000 tons of straw a year, turning it into charcoal, but that's far from enough.
Ye has been concerned about the problem for a long time and has studied disposal and recycling, especially conversion of straw waste into charcoal.
After retirement, he swung into action, visiting Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Henan, a major agricultural province. Equipment to make straw charcoal is available and Ye spent 80,000 yuan to buy a system, which didn't work that well.
Last October he spent more than 100,000 yuan to buy other equipment and consulted experts from the China Agricultural University. His efforts paid off. Fifty tons of waste straw have been converted into more than 10 tons of charcoal.
"Straw charcoal is a kind of cleaner energy," Ye says. "Although it has lower combustion temperature than coal, it costs less and is less polluting to the environment." The local government needs to find a solution to deal with more straw waste and find buyers for straw charcoal," he adds.
Trash into treasure
While Ye is busying turning wheat straw into cleaner energy, Chongming taxi driver Chen Bofeng has been turning straw into artwork for many years.
He produces what are called "straw paintings" and his most famous work is a straw reproduction of the famous ink-wash painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It captures a fascinating variety of daily activities along the river in what is now Kaifeng, Henan Province.
Chen's meticulous reproduction is six meters long and was exhibited at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The work is breathtaking in its detail and viewers are always awed.
On a black silk background, Chen has faithfully fashioned each character - from monks to acrobats - and each animal, pavilion bridge, tree and flower.
It took him five years to complete the work. From human figures to animals, pavilions to bridges, rivers to trees - all shows the taxi driver's great patience and fine technique.
Straw painting or straw patchwork is a Chinese folk art dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). It was enjoyed by royalty during the Song Dynasty. Wheat straw is treated in many ways - smoked, soaked, steamed, bleached, died, cut, carved and fashioned into delicate works.
"It is tedious and takes a long time to finish, but I told myself that I must finish what I begin," says Chen who collects wheat straw from Gangxi Town.
"After cleaning and soaking in water, I carve it with great care and glue it," he says.
Since he was a boy, Chen has practiced straw painting, using every spare moment, even just 30 minutes, to work on a painting.
Earlier Chen created the straw version of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, fashioning more than 6,000 Chinese characters with straw.
"I hope the folk art will flourish with my dedication," he says.
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