Environment awareness rising in the northwest
Print Edition
STUDENTS at a school in Zadoi County, in Qinghai Provience in China’s northwest, are helping raise environmental awareness in the community.
Since March last year, head teacher Monma Tsering has spent 10,000 yuan (US$1,449) buying school supplies for the education program.
“I want our kids to be environmentally aware from a young age,” said Monma, who grew up near the Lancang River in the county.
For two hours every week, students learn about their environment and how to protect it. And when school is out, 13-year-old Bontso collects plastic bottles, bags and other litter on school grounds so she can trade it for stationary with her teacher. It is all part of the environmental awareness program.
“I know about the habitats of protected species of snow leopards, blue sheep and white-lipped deer,” said Bontso.
The older generation are mostly herders with little formal education. But many of their children are high-school graduates, and some have university degrees. The school is encouraging the children to pass on their environmental knowledge to their parents and grandparents.
Twenty years ago, Zadoi residents produced very little garbage, most of which was bio-degradable.
“We didn’t use plastic bottles for water or cooking oil. We ate yak meat and dried the bones for making fires,” said local resident Yonta, 53.
Yonta works for the local government, collecting garbage in the mountains and grasslands and earns 1,800 yuan (US$260) per month.
Located 4,000 meters above sea level, Zadoi is a known habitat for snow leopards and rare caterpillar fungus.
“Shops selling caterpillar fungus began to appear in the 1990s, and the garbage they caused became a problem,” added Yonta.
The county currently produces 25 to 50 tons of rubbish daily. Garbage processors plan to install incinerators to handle the waste.
“Recycling is very important. We used to put everything in landfills because it was difficult to sort. Now we process non-recyclables here, and send recyclables to Xining,” said Tsetentso, manager of a garbage processing company.
“The government is planning further classification, collection, storage and processing of garbage to improve efficiency,” said Kundawa, deputy head of the county government.
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