HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Reduce, reuse and recycle metal, paper

and plastic.

Reduce: Try to use less (for example, use both sides of paper).Reuse: Try to use again (for example, reuse your plastic bags.).Recycle: Put in the recycling bin (for example, save your empty drink cans to put in the recycling You can find recycling bins in your building or on the street…

Set up special bins at home

Hong Kong produces more than 6 million tonnes of waste - let's try and cut it down! Our landfills will be full in the next few years.

We can also recycling some bigger things. Give old toys to friends and go to gov.hk/en/residents/environment/waste to see how we can recycle these things…

* Computers* Rechargeable

batteries* Televisions

* Refrigerators* Washing machines

* Video or audio equipment

* Microwave ovens* Fans

* Water heaters* Rice cookers* Air-cons and

heaters

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Use energy saving light bulbs.

Heat is wasted energy. Energy-saving bulbs give more light, and give out less heat.

Low-energy light bulbs use 5 times less power than old-fashioned ones. That means they also produce less harmful CO2 emissions from power stations.

They are cheaper - over the lifetime of an energy-saving bulb, you can save over $600.

They last longer - usually, a low-energy bulb will last around 6 years!

Turn off things you are not using.

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

What uses the most power in our homes?

We can turn off things at night, when we are out and when we are not using them.

Even if some things are off, they may be using some power – take your TV’s plug out of the wall socket as it will still be on ‘standby’ mode.

Buy things which have a high (‘A’ rated) energy efficiency.

Use heating and air-con on a low setting.

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Write to our leaders to tell them to help protect the

environment.

Mr Donald Tsang,PRC SAR Chief Executive's Office,1109-1111 Asia Pacific Finance Tower,Citibank Plaza, 3 Garden Rd,Hong Kong.

Environmental Protection Department,Southorn Centre, 24/F,130 Hennessy Road,Hong Kong

Write to our leaders in Hong Kong. For example, you could ask them to…

*Spend more money on green energy like windmills and solar power.*Stop buses and taxis from running their engines when they are waiting.*Clean up our water and beaches.*Stop shops from selling old style light-bulbs. *Make everyone recycle more.

Or any other issues you can think of!

Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Hong Kong

Dear Donald Tsang…

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Use public transport and avoid cars and

aeroplane travel.

CO2 emissions are much lower for buses and the MTR, and they are cheaper!

You need to breathe to stay alive. But how clean is the air in Hong Kong? If you breathe dirty air, you may become sick when you are older. Plants and animals need clean air too!

Using buses and the MTR means there are fewer cars on the road, which means less pollution.

If you go on holiday to another country, think about if it is possible to go by train. Or maybe go somewhere else which is nearer! You can get trains all over China, or a ferry to Macau.

A car with 1 driverAn aeroplane

A car with 3 people insideA bus

An MTR trainWalking/bicycle

How much CO2 for each passenger for every mile

Go tocleartheair.org.hk

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Save water by using less.

Did you know? You can put a brick or plastic bottle in your toilet, so that it will refill using less water! It will still work fine.

How we use water…97.5% of the worlds’ water is

sea water which we cannot use - only 2.5% is fresh water, which is ok for people to use.

Hong Kong has few natural lakes and not enough rain, so we need to take 70% of our water from China. For many years, the government stopped Hong Kongers from using too much through rationing.

So remember… Only boil as much water as you need in the kettle or

when cooking or cleaning. Take short showers and try to avoid taking baths. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth. Wash fruits and vegetables in a bowl, not under the

tap. Turn off the tap when washing dishes. Reuse water from washing food to water your plants.

How water gets to you in Hong Kong

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Use less air-con and turn on fans instead.

Remember to... Wear light clothes in the hot weather. Turn the air-con to a warmer setting -

25c is fine. Use the fan setting - especially at

night. Fans use only 10% of the electricity air-cons does.

Turn on the air-con to cool the room and then turn it off or use fans instead.

Close doors and windows when the air-con is on.

Clean the filter so your air-con won't need to work so hard.

Hong Kong is the coldest air-conditioned place in the world says the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Air-conditioning takes up 60% of Hong Kong's electricity in summer.

We can save 3% of this power for each degree we turn it down. We could save 233,000 tonnes of CO2 - 330 million electricity units.

Remember that power in Hong Kong comes from dirty coal. It causes pollution and is very high in CO2 when it is burnt at the power station. So let’s use less power!

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Eat less meat to reduce global heat!

Eat less meatEat less dairy Eat more fruit and

vegetables

It takes a long time for animals to grow ready for us to eat them! They need lots of water, land and food and often a lot of rainforest is cut down for farms.

Many animals (especially cows) also like to burp and break wind. This makes lots of methane which is very bad for the environment, like CO2!

Cows alone give off more dangerous gases than all planes, trains, cars and buses put together!

37% of methane comes from farm animals, and is it 23% more dangerous than CO2! Let’s try and cut this down.

Eat more fruit and vegetables and reduce meat. If you want to eat meat, try to eat more fish and chicken and less beef

and pork!

HOW TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Learn more…

www.greenpeace.org www.foe.org.hk

www.cleartheair.org.hk

Learn more about helping the environment at these English websites….

www.wwf.org.hk

New words…

CO2 – Carbon Dioxide is a gas. We breathe it out and also release it when we burn things. It can cause big problems for the world, as it can stop the Earth from protecting us from the sun.Climate Change – When we talk about climate change, we are talking about how the Earth’s weather is changing, and how the things in the air are changing, over time. Global Warming – This is about how the temperature and sea levels on Earth are slowly rising, with more floods and big storms. Environment – Our environment includes everything around us – animals, plants, the oceans, mountains and the weather. It is important to protect these things.Pollution – Pollution is something we do not want which causes damage. For example, there can be light, noise or air pollution.

Here are some of the more difficult words to learn about…