Chengdu Roots and Shoots environmental scheme is once again up and running.
With the opening of the Olympic games in Rio, there is now more and more attention being paid to the world’s environmental problems. On Saturday, Chengdu Roots and Shoots’ partner in Latvia, Zanda, gave a talk on her personal experiences of promoting environmental issues in Eastern Europe. She regularly organises events to invite public discussion of the organisation’s activities
Latvia is located in Eastern Europe, although it is small with a population of only 2 million they are making great strides in the field of environmental protection, much more so than countries with far larger resources. Their forest coverage rate is up to 42% which is in the top 5 in Europe. Environmental protection is not new but has actually become a norm in Latvia, it pays great attention to the “Earth Overshoot day.” This is the concept put forward by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency, the Global Ecological Footprint Network (GFN) and the UK's New Economic Foundation in August 2012, the idea is to promote each country to use fewer resources per year than the Earth is capable of producing per year.
The 2016 Earth Overshoot day came 5 days earlier than 2015, thus meaning that in 2016 we, as humans, spent the entirety of 2014’s budget in 9 months. We are now in the overdraft of next year’s “ecological budget,” we are gradually failing the planet.
According to estimates, from about 1970 onwards, the human quest for nature began to transcend the critical earth overshoot point. Trends over the past few decades show that almost every 10 years, the day will come one month in advance.
Environmental protection is not the power of one person
Attention and support from the Government and the community is extremely important. Zanda has served as a volunteer in two well-known environmental agencies, Homo Ecos and Green Liberty, to promote environmental concerns.
Homo Ecos has its own dedicated radio program and invites celebrities on to encourage more of the public to participate in environmental protection.
Green Liberty in addition to production related academic research, produced a set of “carbon footprint” life guides, and brought environmental protection information into tens of thousands of households.
Environmental protection does not mean blocking consumption or spending, but aims for more durable consumption and spending that is not at the expense of the environment. “Fair trade” for sustainable development is particularly important.
Although the “fair trade” label has slightly higher prices, as people pay more attention to the sustainability of the living environment, the market accepts these prices. After all, the Earth does not belong to us, and does not belong to this generation.
Meanwhile, financial support from the government is also very important. Latvia has established the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Fund. It has provided financial support for domestic environmental protection organisations and carried out extensive environmental education. Further to this, it has provided financial support for environmental organisations in China. Within the EU, the Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers provides funding for climate change projects and provides support for environmental education.
Everyone’s involvement is a small but important step towards change
No matter how much information is passed, change in action is the ultimate goal of education. Zanda cites a number of warm hearted and practical examples. Recycling of beverage bottles can be used to pay for more of the original purchase, with the reward gradually cultivating the classification of recycling habits. The scheme has had wide participation and praise. Governments support local residents to adopt environmentally friendly habits, such as a high quality insulation layer, which has reduced the winter heating energy pressure in Latvia. A variety of old materials used in a workshop, and the transformation of old things is not just pointing to “conservation” and “environmental protection” but has become a trend of new labels. Through school education, public advocacy and other means, people are increasingly purchasing environmentally friendly products, from food to household goods, to cosmetics. “Green Family” certification is the highest certification of a healthy lifestyle.
The lectures received good feedback from the audience. Chengdu Roots and Shoots also hope that environmentally friendly sharing and experience will increase. Finding suitable local environmentally friendly methods has been successful. We will continue the share scheme to continue to improve the environment!
