Hope those who are reading this blog have had a very Merry Christmas, better a green one :) The last 2 Green Christmas ideas (oh yay finally..!) will focus on some post-Christmas actions you could take to offset your "extra" carbon footprint during Christmas. Hope they help~
Green Christmas Idea #9 - Clean up the nature
My Christmas Day's special celebration with a group of volunteers cleaning up the shore at
Yi O (a sea bay further down Tai O on Lantau) was definitely worth all the hassle doing such a meaningful deed!
Yi O has been an abandoned
village for 30 years, a local green group, Local Life (在地生活), plans to rehabilitate the land and open the largest
organic farm in Hong Kong (~100 acres), probably in the first half of 2013.
Since the land has
been left unmaintained for a few decades, rubbish brought by sea waves piled up
at the shore and needed removal to reveal the ground surface for setting up the
farmland.
Over 50 large garbage bags
were filled by some 20 of us volunteers, after half a day picking up debris such as Styrofoam,
plastic/ glass bottles, plastic bags, food/ snack packaging, candy wraps, flip
flops...piece by piece!
The arm-numbing and back-breaking work only cleaned not
even half of the trash there...We all couldn't help but lamented the effect on
the environment by reckless human! The lesson learned today was...what comes around goes around...! So, be a responsible beach bum, don't leave trash behind coz. the nature doesn't degrade "rubbish"...more importantly, REDUCE the use of styrofoam and disposable products!!
Beach and country park clean-ups are gaining heightened awareness by Hong Kong people, especially after the "plastic pellet spill" incident earlier this year. Apart from occasion cleanups held by small local groups, you may also join or organize a "Hong Kong Cleanup" event co-organized by ecozine.com and National Geographic Channel (Recall the TV ad these days with Daniel Wu and Lisa S??). Not only should you join cleanups during Christmas, but any other time all year round! I assure you this is a serious hands-on experience that could make you think twice before buying/using eco-unfriendly products ever again...
An after-note, when Local Life's organic farm is fully fledged, produces will be sold
through their store to be opened in Tai O, and some other partnering social enterprises. Good news for organic veg's fans~
Green Christmas
Idea #10 - Gifts handy to those needy
We all love gift exchange! After every Boxing Day, have it ever happened when you received a gift you already own, or you are not likely to use, the gift turns out to be sitting in a cabinet corner at home. Why not donate to people who would think them of use? It may feel bad giving away gifts from others, but when it comes to situations simply reasonable and sensible to do so, knowing the organizations that receive them would come in handy :)
Caritas
Po Leung Kuk
St James Settlement
The Salvation Army
- The End -
We all love gift exchange! After every Boxing Day, have it ever happened when you received a gift you already own, or you are not likely to use, the gift turns out to be sitting in a cabinet corner at home. Why not donate to people who would think them of use? It may feel bad giving away gifts from others, but when it comes to situations simply reasonable and sensible to do so, knowing the organizations that receive them would come in handy :)
Caritas
They accept:
|
Housewares and
gifts, apparel, toys and garment, office equipment, priced items, coupons or
other gifts
|
Where to next:
|
To the infamous
charity sale - the Caritas Bazaar
|
Enquiry:
|
2843 4700 or Caritas Local Service Coordination Offices of respective
deaneries
|
Website:
|
Po Leung Kuk
They
accept:
|
All kinds of items are welcome
- electrical appliances, computers, stationeries, toys, books, household
accessories, cookware, etc.
|
Where
to next:
|
Children,
the elderly and low-income families
|
Enquiry:
|
2277
8158
|
Website:
|
St James Settlement
They
accept:
|
Electric fan, rice cooker, electric water
boiler/pot, radio, telephone set (with large number keys), TV set,
refrigerator, washing machine, water heater etc.
|
Where to
next:
|
"Electrical
Appliances For The Elderly" Program to elderly in HK
|
Enquiry:
|
2831 3283
|
Website:
|
The Salvation Army
They
accept:
|
·
Clothing, footwear, handbags and accessories, either
brand new or used in clean condition
·
Electrical home appliances in working order
·
Electrical office equipments (e.g. computer, fax
machine, printer, etc.) in working order
·
Toys, stationery, books, gifts and premiums
·
Software / DVD / VCD / CD with copyright
|
Where
to donate:
|
At any of the Family
Stores during opening hours or deposit them into The Salvation Army
Recycling Bins located across Hong Kong
|
Where
to next:
|
Distributed and sold in Family Stores, some will be directly
helping people in need, such as home alone elderly, street sleepers,
ex-prisoners and CSSA recipients
|
Enquiry:
|
2332
4433 (Mon to Fri 9am – 6pm / Sat 9am – 5pm)
|
Website:
|
YMCA
They
accept:
|
Toys, books, sports equipments,
music instruments, electronic game products
|
Where
to donate:
|
YMCA centres in Tsim Sha Tsui,
Cheung Sha Wan and Tung Chung
|
Where
to next:
|
Children
under 12 years old from low income families
|
Enquiry:
|
Tsim
Sha Tsui headquarter: 2268 7000
Cheung Sha Wan centre: 2708 8995
Tung Chung centre: 2988 1246
|
Website:
|
- The End -
Afterword
So that's all for the 10 Green Christmas ideas~ I have learned so much doing the research in many late nights after work, after party, after volunteering at the beach clean up. Friends did ask why I am so into doing this post (haha..yea..), first, I have decided since the beginning to write 10 ideas, there hasn't been any excuse not to try and do whatever to finish it. Besides, I really am concerned about the future of our environment...it's a photo I took during the beach clean up - water bottles from over 10 years found right under soil still remain so intact...
Think about our landfills, billions of plastic bottles like this will be staying there for decades, centuries without degrading, I couldn't help but am haunted by the idea of living above the landfills one day...if we don't do something to procrastinate our rubbish producing speed...
This was supposed to be a bubbly Christmas post...but somehow, when talking about environmental sustainability, the topic doesn't sound funny any more. It's something SERIOUS. My blog is yea, party-oriented, but I also want to spread this message - Enjoy life, eat, play, spend money, party, with SENSE. The very least thing you wana do is to destroy the earth sooner than you and your next generations could enjoy it, right?
