Environmental protection: more talk than walk
Updated: 2010-07-09 07:37
By Michelle Fei(HK Edition)
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A survey concerning attitudes toward the environment shows that 90 percent of the people of Hong Kong believe that environmental protection is everyone's responsibility but only one in five admits to doing anything to help. Among those surveyed by telephone, the effective response rate of 71.5 percent is considered high.
"A 71.5-percentage effective response rate shows that Hong Kong people do feel concerned about environmental protection," said Ka-lai Pang of the Public Opinion Program of the University of Hong Kong (HKU POP), adding "However, only few of them take action."
The survey, conducted by HKU POP, interviewed 508 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 15 to 49 between June 9 and 14. The age range of the survey statistically is representative of 4 million (57 percent of) Hong Kong citizens, according to Karie Ka-lai Pang, assistant director of HKU POP.
The discrepancy between what people believe and what they are willing to do to solve the problem is revealed by four principal factors: enjoyment of life, cost of living, convenience and social cooperation.
77 percent of respondents agree that being environmentally responsible means sacrificing a certain degree of living enjoyment. 69 percent of respondents remarked that environmental protection entails cooperation among different parties and cannot be resolved at the individual level. Also, 64 percent of respondents said that premium-priced, environment-friendly products will add to their cost of living. 58 percent of respondents believe it would be inconvenient to change personal habits to embrace environmental protection.
Another element of environmental awareness emerges from a different survey among people who use bottled-water and the way they dispose of the plastic containers. Bottled water containers disposal and recycling pose a significant problem for Hong Kong, especially during the high heat of summer.
Over 90 percent of respondents drink bottled water. Only half throw the plastic containers into a recycling bin. 60 percent of bottled water drinkers said they rarely see recycling bins or don't know where they are located. Another 15 percent think taking the empty bottle to a recycling bin is a hassle, the survey found.
"Definitely more recycling bins should be placed around the city - the more the better," said Ka-lai Pang, the survey administrator. She urges that more environmental protection awareness be promoted, since a previous research indicated a positive correlation between the level of (environmental) education among recipients and their willingness to participate in environmental protection.
The lightest plastic water bottle among the common six leading brands of bottled water in Hong Kong has been developed by Coca-Cola recently. Weighting only 11.8g, the new bottle can reduce its size by 86 percent on average after being twisted while the retail price remains unchanged.
"Every effort counts," said Karen So, general manager for the Hong Kong & Macao Region, Coca-Cola China Limited. "We encourage all bottled water drinkers to twist the bottle after drinking and put it into the nearby recycle bin."
An exhibition of four art works made of the new easily-twisted plastic bottle will be held on Paterson Street from July 11 to 31 to encourage more Hong Kong people to take part in environmental protection.
Siu Hak, the illustrator of the art works, said environmental protection is urgently needed, otherwise "human beings will be endangered one day."
China Daily
(HK Edition 07/09/2010 page1)