Celebrating the Environment
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and Environmental Campaign Committee organise two major territory-wide events each year to promote green living habits and highlight environmental issues of concern. The Environmental Protection Festival is a home-grown event that typically runs for about two months and features district-based activities organised by District Councils and green groups. In recent years a special focus has been waste recycling. Two Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling Days were organised in January 2007, in which 350 housing estates participated. The EPD also organised a Lunar Year-end Recycling Campaign to tie in with the traditional spring-cleaning.
World Environment Day (WED), on the other hand, is designated by the United Nations and celebrated globally on June 5. Clean air was the theme of Hong Kong's WED 2007 events, which were also incorporated into the festivities for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The highlight was a one-hour television programme that showed how dressing down in the workplace could save energy, and it featured a "Cool Biz Fashion Show". The Chief Executive, Mr Donald TSANG, the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR, Mr LU Xinhua, other senior officials in Hong Kong and more than 30 representatives from Consul-Generals and District Councils participated in the programme.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald TSANG, officiates at the Cool Biz Fashion Show with senior officials and guests. |
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Encouraging Green Business
Businesses are often told what to do to improve the environment. However, many have already taken the initiative to be greener and several awards programmes have been established to recognise their efforts. The Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards, Wastewi$e Scheme and Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Awards all assess and award businesses and organisations for introducing environmental protection measures into their operations. These awards are organised by the EPD, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and business organisations, and they have honoured hundreds of businesses and organisations over the years. For example in 2006, the Eco-Business awards honoured 58 winners, while the Wastewi$e Logo was awarded to 126 organisations at an awards presentation ceremony.
In 2007, the EPD considered how to improve the impact and effectiveness of its awards programmes. It was felt that consolidating the three awards and expanding their scope could boost the prestige of green awards for businesses and enable us to optimise resources. Thus, the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence will be launched in early 2008. There are two types of recognition, namely Environmental Labels and Sectoral Awards. For the Environmental Labels, the Wastewi$e Label will replace the Wastewi$e Logo and three new Labels will be added – Energywi$e Label, Indoor Air Quality Label and Eco-Product Label. The Sectoral Awards will honour those organisations which have demonstrated all-round and outstanding environmental performance in an annual competition within designated sectors including the Construction Industry; Financial Institutions; Hotels, Restaurants and Catering Companies; Property Management; Retailers; Transport and Logistics; Public Sector and NGOs. The new awards will provide a singular route of recognition, where businesses and organisations can demonstrate their green credentials and be honoured for their efforts.
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(From left) Dr WAI Tze Kong, Chairman of Environmental Concern Sub-committee of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Ms Elizabeth LAW, Convenor of the ECC's Business Partnership Working Group, Ms Anissa WONG, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Mr Joseph LEE, Chairman of the ECC, Dr Lily CHIANG, Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Mr Wilson FUNG, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Productivity Council with Grand Award winners of 2006 Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards. |
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