Nat Geo goes ‘inside the dragon’

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Posted on May 12, 2008 
Filed Under Environment, News and Media
Posted by Erica Schlaikjer | 1 Comment

(Image via National Geographic)

The May issue of National Geographic is devoted entirely to China.

“Inside the Dragon,” as it’s called, covers a variety of topics, from the Olympic Games architecture boom to the dismal state of the Yellow River.

The Yellow River story, titled “Bitter Waters” by Brook Larmer, shines light on the urgency of the pollution crisis in China’s legendary waterway.

Few waterways capture the soul of a nation more deeply than the Yellow, or the Huang, as it’s known in China. It is to China what the Nile is to Egypt: the cradle of civilization, a symbol of enduring glory, a force of nature both feared and revered. From its mystical source in the 14,000-foot Tibetan highlands, the river sweeps across the northern plains where China’s original inhabitants first learned to till and irrigate, to make porcelain and gunpowder, to build and bury imperial dynasties. But today, what the Chinese call the Mother River is dying. Stained with pollution, tainted with sewage, crowded with ill-conceived dams, it dwindles at its mouth to a lifeless trickle. There were many days during the 1990s that the river failed to reach the sea at all.

The demise of the legendary river is a tragedy whose consequences extend far beyond the more than 150 million people it sustains. The Yellow’s plight also illuminates the dark side of China’s economic miracle, an environmental crisis that has led to a shortage of the one resource no nation can live without: water.

There are other contributions by famous writers, including a piece on China’s emerging middle class by Leslie Chang, a story about the vanishing Dong minority in Guizhou Village by Amy Tan, and ruminations about China’s future by Peter Hessler. And, of course, stunning photography.

And I got a good tip from Marilyn Terrell, chief researcher from National Geographic Traveler:

The online edition has two stories from the archives of NatGeo that don’t appear in the print edition: a 1955 story by Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian soldier who escaped a British POW camp in India during WWII and hiked over the Himalayas to Tibet, and became tutor to the young Dalai Lama.

and a 1971 story by Canadian Audrey Topping who attended college in China before Mao’s revolution, then returned years later to find the country transformed in many ways.

The stories are rich, engaging and informative. If you can’t get your hands on the print edition, no worries — the online version is rich in multimedia and interactive tools. And there’s even a “How to Help” section, in line with the publication’s mission to “inspire people to care about the planet.”

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Whoa, baby, organic clothes in China!

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Posted on May 9, 2008 
Filed Under Business, Social Entrepreneurship
Posted by Sophia Mendelsohn | Leave a Comment

(Image via BlogGreen)

Chinese products have been called “toxic” and created mass consumer unease recently, so China is not the obvious place to start looking for organic baby clothes. Still, with the population’s buying power and manufacturing capacity, baby clothes could be one of the most important markets for China’s economy. Sherry Poon, founder and owner of wobabybasics, a company that makes and sells organic clothes in Shanghai, is aiming to prove that “Made in China” can be organic, and she aims to spread a little style and love in the process. (The company was recently featured at the recent EcoFair in Shanghai.)

Organic cotton means that its seeds haven’t been genetically modified or treated with pesticides and that it is grown without the use of chemical toxins, which can be harmful, especially to kids. Finding cotton made without all the mainstream chemicals and pesticides is a difficult task in China. When Poon started her company, she looked for factories and suppliers around Shanghai to “lower the embodied energy of the product” (or use less energy trucking the stuff around). But in manufacturing, sometimes you have to go a little farther than home to find the right raw material.

All the companies would tell me that their cotton fabrics were all organic…it would seem obvious that cotton fabric was all natural. However, cotton farming and textile production is riddled with toxic chemicals, rendering their seemingly inert fiber to be highly toxic and potentially harmful for users. Some companies were able to produce certificates for their organic fabrics. When two of the certificates were absolutely identical and did not check out with the certification board, my optimism dimmed a little.

wobabybasics ended up as a Canadian-owned company contracting with a Danish clothing factory, selling to mostly Western consumers. Poon wanted to work with Chinese suppliers but found they were “still struggling to find their place in the market and are concerned about making profits.” Well, aren’t all businesses? China is as good a place as any–in fact, maybe better–to turn the manufacturing of a niche product into a profitable mainstream business. Poon says recently there has been an increase in suppliers carrying “certified organic and eco fabrics.” Chinese producers are understandably responding to the market as it stands now, and we haven’t given them the noise they need to go totally organic yet.

China is not the only one slow to take up more environmentally conscious products. Like most people selling green concepts, Poon says customers will base their purchasing decisions on performance and design before environmental factors:

…clients are more inclined to purchase clothes they find attractive rather than because it is organic. The fact that the products are organic and ethically made are just a bonus.

Learn more about that type of “bonus” by checking out these other cool businesses in China: Shokay (a luxury fabric line) and Mei Xiang Cheese Factory (an artisan cheese social enterprise). Both unique initiatives, supported by Ventures in Development, aim to capitalize on China’s abundant yak population in a sustainable way.


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China NPOs and companies offset carbon footprint in Inner Mongolia

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Posted on May 7, 2008 
Filed Under Activism and Awareness, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment
Posted by Sophia Mendelsohn | Leave a Comment

(Image via  Small Worlds Magazine)

We are all bombarded with information about our “footprint” and how big and bad it is. But what exactly are we supposed to be doing with this information in China, a country where “green” can be few and far between?

Two groups, Shanghai Roots & Shoots and SCMC, a Coca-Cola vendor, are working together to reduce Shanghai’s carbon footprint by planting the right kind of trees in the right kind of places. “Tree planting” is based on the idea that trees can reduce the threat of global warming because they basically suck up carbon and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the air. While no one is pretending that you can plant trees and negate your impact on the earth, it is an example of what China can do to acknowledge its environmental impact and make a quantitative change. Shanghai Roots & Shoots raises money and awareness for the tree planting program and then purchases trees from a nursery in Inner Mongolia. The organization plants pine and poplar trees, which scientists and biologists have certified as appropriate for the area.

The trees benefit the earth in the following ways:

The Shanghai Roots & Shoots tree planting program is responsible for guaranteeing that local farmers are supplied with seedlings and that they are then responsible for re-planting the trees they cut down, after 20 years, in order to guarantee there is a new tree in its place for up to a 50 year period.

In April, SCMC sponsored two trips involving a total of 28 Shanghaiers, who planted more than 2,000 poplar trees in the Kulunqi desert. As one SCMC rep said, “Coca-Cola Bottlers Manufacturing Co Ltd is…addressing environmental concerns on multiple fronts - holding back desertification, carbon offsetting, sustainable local economic rejuvenation that compliments the environmental objectives and finally environmental education.” In one corner of China at least, tree planting is firmly on the CSR menu.

For more information about the Roots & Shoots program, please visit www.jgi-shanghai.org.

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British Council hosts youth climate change leaders in China

HaoHao This

Posted on April 14, 2008 
Filed Under Activism and Awareness, Environment, People
Posted by Mark Hiew | Leave a Comment

Photo via British Council

It seems the British Council these days is busy cultivating youth climate change leaders in China.

This past Saturday evening at the Bookworm Chengdu, a cultural events center in central Chengdu, several youth ambassadors spoke to an audience of largely grade school students on climate change action, as well as their own involvement in an international climate change conference in London this March.

The International Climate Champions, organized by the British Council, consists of 38 youth ambassadors from 13 countries, including China. The project is targeted at 12- to 18-year-olds, which, according to the program’s site, are a “persuasive global generation, [one that] can network very effectively, and are skilled at engaging with other young people and the wider public.”

Wang Yifei, of Sichuan, is the Chongqing Climate Champion, one of the initiative’s three China youth ambassadors. He spoke on the recent conference, where he gave a presentation on the decrease of diversity in Sichuan due to climate change, using giant pandas as an example. The Beijing ambassador gave a presentation on weather change, including snowcap melting in Inner Mongolia.

The Chinese delegation offered the following as an option for the “Kobe Challenge,” which will be presented to environment ministers at the G8 Environment Ministers Conference in Kobe, Japan this May: “Climate change is the problem and our generation is changing to become the solution.”

The trip included a visit to 10 Downing Street, an interview with BBC and a meeting led by Hillary Benn, the UK’s Secretary of State for Environmental Affairs.

Wang expressed confidence in young people’s ability to deal successfully with the climate change problem, citing education of the country’s current youth generation and a “positive attitude” as integral to success. Citing the UK’s official target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050, he was unperturbed.

“I think China can do much better than that,” he said, before a receptive audience, most of whom appeared to be younger than him.

The discussion also mentioned the British Council’s “Climate Cool” initiative, which “aims to raise awareness of climate change and encourage participants to take individual action to reduce the impact of climate change.”

Judging by a survey referred to on the Climate Cool site, Wang’s confidence may need to come along with some serious alteration of current Chinese youth sentiments.

The survey, performed through China Youth Daily and based on 2,500 questionnaires involving nearly 10,000 participants, shows that “80 percent of surveyed youths indicated their concerns on the climate change and related disasters.” In particular, they cited rising sea levels and subsequent reduction in land area and the potential for “some coastal cities and islands to disappear” as causes of concern.

However, “there would be strong resistance if people were asked to sacrifice their current living standards for the sake of sustainable consumption,” cited by the Climate Cool site.

According to the survey, approximately two thirds of participants still “indicated a willingness to purchase a car within their financial capabilities,” even though “most had noticed the negative effects of automobile exhausts on urban air pollution.”

General young Chinese attitudes, the survey found, are lagging well behind their older counterparts. According to the survey, while 76% of adults surveyed “have a positive attitude to saving energy,” only 34% of under-18s had similar attitudes.

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Additional Info:

Climate Cool Initiative focuses on ways to reduce carbon emissions and energy use through three main ways:

  1. distribution of media for educational purposes
  2. reducing consumption and change lifestyle through innovative ways, including using renewable materials within society
  3. taking action on campuses.

It also provides training that teaches students how to measure their school’s carbon footprint, perform an environmental audit of their school and how to mobilize teachers and fellow students by demonstrating the impacts of climate change.

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