features
and recreational enthusiasts alike .
A similar campaign called ' Sea Without Litter ' unites all the major stakeholders – marine clubs and dive boats for example – who work near or on Hong Kong seas . The project is a continuation of WWF ’ s Coastal Watch , a two-year data gathering exercise to identify the types and sources of Hong Kong rubbish . Lam said Sea Without Litter promotes the use of reusable fishstorage boxes instead of polystyrene and encourages businesses to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in their operations .
So many programmes , so much advocacy ! So much work to be done ! One wonders how these ecocampaigners keep going .
Because ‘ success ’, in the realm of green activism , seems a relative and often elusive term . The planet ’ s environmental problems appear so vast and intractable , at both the institutional and grass-roots levels , that opening a newspaper or clicking on a website is an exercise fraught with peril . Sure , our eco-warriors can cite new governmental policies and laws , such as Hong Kong ’ s ban on ivory trading , as victories . They can celebrate growth in threatened animal populations and hectares of land preserved . But overall , do they ever reach a point of job well done ? When
For anyone in Hong Kong who wanders down to a rubbishstrewn beach or passes an ivory trader on Hollywood Road or finds it hard to breathe on a polluted day , our environment is always a focus
does awareness turn to momentum and become real change ? Behavioural shifts and hard numbers might take years to materialise .
In place of data , environmental activists Leung and Lam both speak of a single factor that gives them hope : faces .
“ It ’ s really enjoyable when I meet some students who become fascinated by nature by the end of the tour ,” Lam says . “ It is really motivating when I ’ m during my job .”
Leung agrees that you can ’ t always look to numbers for optimism . “ In talking to people , I kind of assess the change by engagement , whether people have a sparkle in their eyes , whether they ’ re making some changes , if they say to me ,
‘ Oh Julia , I ’ m not using straws anymore .’ Just little things like that . They ’ re not necessarily quantifiable .”
The next big step for FIS is the opening in September 2018 of its newest school in Tseung Kwan O . According to Fleur Murdoch , FIS marketing and communications assistant manager , the state-of-the-art , sustainable campus has been designed to make use of the direction of the sun and prevailing winds and will offer students green walls and gardens for food and local flora .
“ It ’ s a whole concept of an ecoschool ,” Murdoch says . “ So I think that is forward-thinking . It ’ s not just a building that ’ s been put up with classrooms for the kids to go to . There ’ s a lot of thought that ’ s gone in behind the construction and it will affect the students . I see that the kids are green and that they ’ re interested and engaged in learning more about sustainable development . It is a big focus .”
For anyone in Hong Kong who wanders down to a rubbish-strewn beach or passes an ivory trader on Hollywood Road or finds it hard to breathe on a polluted day , our environment is always a focus . And there is always room for improvement . But in ways small and large , the territory ’ s ecoactivists have witnessed a pretty good start to 2018 .
36 www . playtimes . com . hk