Environment Bureau Environmental Protection Department ENVIRONMENT HONG KONG 2008
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3 Community Awareness

 
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Mission

 

To promote community environmental awareness through campaigns, publicity, education and action programmes, with a view to harnessing the community's support for, and contribution to achieving desired environmental goals, thereby securing a long term solution to environmental problems through development of an improved environmental ethic within the community.


LOVING A GREEN HONG KONG


Highlights in 2007
  • The "I Love Hong Kong! I Love Green!" Campaign was launched to promote a greener lifestyle.
  • More than 17 000 students joined the Student Environmental Protection Ambassadors Scheme.
  • 237 schools joined the Hong Kong Green School Award.
  • $1 billion was earmarked for the Environment and Conservation Fund to boost community support and participation in environmental protection and nature conservation.
  • The final Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards were handed out to 58 winners in November 2007, paving the way for the new Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence.
  • A one-hour TV programme promoting energy conservation and dressing-down at work was broadcast to echo World Environment Day 2007 and featured a "Cool Biz Fashion Show".

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is constantly looking for ways to encourage people to lead greener lives and help to improve the environment. Over the years our campaigns have developed from building awareness to inspiring action. Typically they have focused on specific issues of concern, such as air pollution and waste reduction. In 2007 we took a new approach, the "I Love Hong Kong! I Love Green!" campaign, that provides an umbrella for all of our efforts. People are being urged to take green actions in their daily lives, such as reducing energy consumption and reducing waste, and to recognise that small individual efforts, when added together, can help to achieve significant improvements in Hong Kong's environment. Everyone will enjoy the benefits.

I Love Hong Kong I Love GREEN


Greening daily life

Greening daily life Green Living, Dressing green Green Living, Dining habits Green Living, Living habits Green Living, Choice of transportation

More and more people are becoming alert to the need to protect the environment and want to know how they can help. The EPD's awareness raising programmes provide them with the information to get started. They explain the environmental problems facing Hong Kong and show what actions people can take to reduce their impacts.

The new "I Love Hong Kong! I Love Green!" campaign encourages everyone to make changes in their daily lives and adopt cleaner, greener lifestyles by doing simple things, such as turning off computers and televisions when not in use, not wasting food, using fewer disposable utensils, bringing their own shopping bags and setting air-conditioners at an energy-saving temperature.

The message is being spread through four TV and radio Announcements in the Public Interest that look at green dressing, eating, living habits and commuting. There is also a computer game, SimEP, which has six characters in a family setting and shows people how they can reduce waste. A dedicated waste reduction web site has also been launched to provide a one-stop source of information on waste generation, reduction, recycling and management. In fact, all of EPD's outreach activities are now focused on encouraging people to examine their daily habits and think about how they can make changes that will help the environment.


Greening schools

Children are the future and thus a central focus of environmental awareness campaigns. The EPD and Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) have been organising school-based campaigns for more than a decade. Tens of thousands of students have participated in our programmes and learned how to practice recycling, energy conservation and other green habits in their daily lives.

The Student Environmental Protection Ambassador (SEPA) Scheme, for example, enrols more than 10 000 students each year to organise environmental activities at their schools and develop environmental and leadership skills through training and an Environmental Badge System. In 2007 we introduced a new Capacity Building Programme that refers SEPAs to green groups to help in their environmental activities.

The Hong Kong Green School Award encourages a whole-school approach to environmental protection. Participating schools are expected to formulate a school environmental policy and implement environmental management, and to influence staff, students and parents to adopt environmentally friendly habits. In 2007, several related programmes were organised alongside the awards, including a promotion on green lunch in schools, an environmental shopping bag design competition, and the Power Saving Action for Schools competition, which encouraged schools and students to save energy.

The EPD and ECC also work with businesses and outside organisations that want to help raise awareness among students, such as the MTR Corporation, Hong Kong Disneyland and the Lions Clubs International. Concern for the environment is running deep in the community and there is a strong expectation that young people will not only lead greener lives in future, but influence their elders to lead green lives, too.

Students visit Castle Peak Power Station for Environmental Badge Training.

  Students visit Castle Peak Power Station for Environmental Badge Training.
 

Some of the winning designs of the Environmental Shopping Bag Design Competition.

Some of the winning designs of the Environmental Shopping Bag Design Competition.


Greening the community

The EPD can help individuals to help the environment through promotion and education. But there is a third way. Capacity building and partnership development are also goals of our community awareness programmes. The Capacity Building Programme for SEPAs, mentioned above, helps to develop skills and knowledge among students. A partnership scheme for green groups aims to achieve the same in the wider community. The scheme pairs experienced green groups with less experienced or inexperienced groups to develop their capacity in promoting environmental issues. An example in 2007 was the launch of the "One Tonne Challenge". This was jointly organised by the Tai Po Environmental Association and Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in partnership with seven uniformed groups, with sponsorship from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) and the ECC. The project urges every Hong Kong citizen to reduce their annual carbon dioxide emissions by one tonne. It is supported by a dedicated web site that provides practical advice on how people can achieve this in their daily lives.

An exhibition of Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste at Lung Poon Court.

An exhibition of Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste at Lung Poon Court.
Another way in which we support community programmes is through the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF). Since 1994 the ECF has provided more than $25 million for 782 environmental education and community action projects and over $44 million for 119 research projects. Since 2001 it has also granted more than $25 million for 71 community waste recovery projects and for 86 housing estates to establish facilities for source separation of waste. In 2007, the Chief Executive proposed a further $1 billion injection into the fund so the focus could broaden to innovative, larger-scale, longer-term projects, as well as cross-boundary programmes.

Asking people to adopt greener lifestyles will not produce change in itself. The EPD, the ECC and the many community groups and other organisations in Hong Kong need to be imaginative and persistent in getting across the message. It will be well worth the effort and investment. The more people adopt greener lifestyles, the bigger the gains in environmental protection for the whole community.


Looking Ahead
Looking Ahead
 
  • Funding will be provided by the Environment and Conservation Fund to support community-based environmental projects that focus on greening, energy conservation and waste reduction.
  • The Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence will be launched to encourage businesses and organisations to adopt green management.
  • Waste reduction and eco-friendly consumption will be promoted on World Environment Day 2008.
  • The Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre, a joint project with the University of Hong Kong, will come into operation in April 2008.
  • The Kennedy Town Environmental Exhibition Centre will open in June 2008.
  • Green messages will be disseminated through various media and community outreach programmes.

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