Archive for the ‘beijing’ Category

I stumbled across an interesting interview today from the China Youth Daily.  Ma Jun,  head of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based research group was chatting about green consumerism in China.  He argues that young people should become the “main force of the green consumption movement.”

Mr Jun states “You can make your money become a “green vote” for products with green, safe, and environmentally friendly labels and thus influence how companies take environmental actions.

We cannot shift all of the responsibility onto the government. What the government should do is to strengthen the policies on supervision and management, and create conditions to ensure that the public is well informed and can participate in environmentally friendly activities.”

By Stefan Deeran at The Element Agency in New York

The Chinese state media has revealed that Beijing residents have the lowest public satisfaction with the environment according to the Macao Daily Times.  The Olympic host city ranked third to last in the first-ever survey of public attitudes toward the environment in all 31 provincial and regional capitals.

As we reported on My Green Element last year, air pollution can be so bad in Beijing that Olympics boss Jacques Rogge may consider postponing some events like the marathon at the 2008 Games hosted by China.  The Chinese government has ramped up efforts to improve their green image, both at home and abroad.  All hotels that are associated with the games, for example, must meet state environmental standards under the “Green Leaf” certification.

Wang Panpu, head of the state association that promotes environmental awareness and that conducted the survey, suggested that Beijing residents’ dissatisfaction is due to their high level of environmental awareness. “In cities where the awareness and participation in environmental protection is relatively high, the environmental demands of citizens are higher,” Panpu said.

Nevertheless as massive environmental degradation plagues China, the survey found that overall only 42 percent in China felt environmentally aware, and only 36 percent thought they were doing their part to protect the environment.

By Stefan Deeran at The Element Agency in New York

Remember the recent recalls of toys for lead paint and other harmful materials because they are a harbinger for change in our supply chain – China.

If you are looking to point fingers or ask why lead paint was being used for children’s toys produced in China then look no further than Mattel’s mea culpa. As corporations continue to press their suppliers (in China) for lower costs, it’s inevitable that sustainability and the environment take a back seat.

Tom Friedman, the popular New York Times columnist offers hope in his latest column. Friedman talks about how change is beginning to happen in the supply chain and it’s a result of leadership coming from corporate America not government.

Wal-Mart with its famous rock-bottom prices and mission of acting in the best interests of consumers has made impressive gains with its commitment to bringing sustainability into its business practices.

Keep in mind that this is the same company whose business practices use to only provoke outrage (there are still no Wal-Marts in New York City or Vermont) with routine reports of the coerced unpaid overtime, the foreign sweatshop labor, health-insurance packages that left thousands of employees to rely on Medicaid, and the sucking dry of mom-and-pop stores.

Hopefully Wal-Mart’s emerging transformation of its business practices in terms of sustainability encourages more North American corporations to engage in similar initiatives.

By Grant Draper at The Element Agency in New York.

Air pollution can be so bad in Beijing, the BBC reported earlier this month, that Olympics boss Jacques Rogge may consider postponing some events at the 2008 Games hosted by China.

So it is no surprise that Chinese State officials are now promoting sustainability initiatives where many first time visitors will reside–hotels. Olympic travelers now have the option of staying at “Gold or Silver Leaf Green Hotels,“ properties that have been certified by the China National Tourism Administration. 52 of the 112 hotels that are being built just for the Games have passed the green assessment and only those that pass may promote a connection to the Olympics.

Green hotels must improve energy and water efficiency, reduce air pollution and not offer any wild or protected animals at their food service operations. The Green Leaf program just started this year and supposedly improves upon a previous standard developed by the China Hotels Association.

The People’s Republic’s green hospitality goals seem quite ambitious, since 10,000 environmentally friendly hotels must be built by 2010. Spurred by the standards, eco-friendly hotel products were reported to have been very popular at the recent Shanghai International Hospitality Equipment & Supply Expo.

Unfortunately, the Green Hotel program currently lacks transparency. Hunting down the actual benchmarks behind the standards or even finding background information on the various State departments, at least in English, is difficult.

Nonetheless, this green hospitality trend seems to be moving quickly in the right direction. We will be closely following this movement and reporting any news on this blog.

By Stefan Deeran, at The Element Agency in New York