生活回歸 back to life

Dear Committee members,
 
Thanks for making the effort to organize this activity, "運動同樂日".
 
As far as I can recall, one objective of this activity is to promote health and give colleagues a time to relax.
 
Basically I agree. 
 
However, I just overheard (and I hope it’s note true) that you are looking for sponsors of bottled water for this event.  As an environmentalist and someone who is preparing guidelines on Green IT, I’d like to comment on the provision of bottled water in an activity aiming to promote health, and hope the committee would look for a more environmentally responsible (and creative) way.

“a Swedish study calculated that the environmental impact of bottled water was 90 to 1,000 times greater than tap water, and could be higher.” "The manufacturing process takes approximately 5 liters of water to produce a 1-liter finished product. In addition, once the water inside them is consumed, most of those plastic water bottles end up in landfills (or in gutters)." [source]

Some cities in the world have already banned the purchase of bottled water with public money. [e.g. London, San Francisco, California, Canada].  It’s not only that the manufacturing of bottled water consumes energy, but also that only a small percentage of the plastic bottles will be recycled. And even though recycling is a better option than sending the bottles to landfills, the process itself still uses energy and produces pollution. 

“消費者不僅要為瓶裝水大掏腰包，還要承受瓶裝水帶來的環境損失。首先，需要石油來製造塑膠瓶。每年，僅僅為了製造美國人消費的瓶裝水的瓶子，就需要1500萬桶石油，而這些石油如果用來生產汽油，可以供1萬輛美國汽車使用整整一年！ 另外，塑膠瓶的回收和處理也是很大的問題。在美國，僅有不到四分之一的塑膠瓶被回收，每年留下90萬噸的垃圾。 ”摘自「奢侈不起的瓶裝水――你還在飲用嗎」 2007年08月20日﹐科技日報

A lot of the plastic bottles thrown away by Hongkongers are ended up in landfill (the degradation of plastics also produces pollution).  We are running out of landfill space, and the Government is planning to expand the landfill to Sai Kung, a perfect place for leisure and outdoor activities, which the "運動同樂日" is going to promote. Wouldn’t it be a mockery if an activity that aims at promoting health actually is unjustifiably taking up our scare landfill space, polluting our environment and threatening our health?

“也許提供樽裝水和紙杯是出自好意﹐希望為參加者提供更多方便。「好意」或「好服務」﹐我想﹐就是當前的問題所在。現今的機構或商家﹐紛紛以資源的消耗來提高所謂的服務水平。超市派發膠袋是好服務﹐活動裡派發樽裝水是好意﹐大學在開放日向幾千個中學生派發不實用的紀念品是善意﹐買一個芝士蛋糕店員放進一個膠盒套上一層膠紙再放進紙盒是優質服務… 問題是﹐我們還能承受多少這種過度的好意和優質服務？污染和過度消耗資源是我們這一代以及下一代面對的難題。若慈善籌款活動是以浪費資源和破壞生態環境為代價，當中的「善」真是可圈可點，也讓捐助者感到困惑。” 摘自「致 苗圃行動︰環保﹐也是一種善舉」 2008年07月25日

Even recycling uses up energy and produces pollution : recycling plastic requires melting plastic down and giving off tons of airborne chemicals.  And when we have better alternatives to plastic bottles, why pollute the environment?

“Everyone knows about the numbers on the bottoms of plastic containers. But one thing you may not know is that if those numbers are combined in a plastic melt it could ruin the whole product. A common mistake is trying to recycle a jug and its cap together. More often than not a jugs lid will be of a different number than its container.”  摘自http://grn.com/library/position.htm

Remember that reduce comes before reuse and recyle. Every choice we make has the potential to save (or harm) the environment.  To be environmentally responsible, I’ll urge the committe to ask participants to bring their own re-usable bottle to the event.  There are a number of water fountains in the Sports Centre.  It’s convenient to refill water there.

“也許，有的參加者是以「消費者」的心態來參加活動，甚至頤指氣使。主辦機構也從服務顧客的角度出發﹐唯恐招呼不週而作出妥協，因此錯失改變眾人浪費陋習的機會。不然的話，行動就遠遠超越籌款的意義，而昇華到重塑珍惜資源、可持續的生活態度。 我很明白舉辦大型活動要兼顧一大籮其他的難題，但這不應成為犧牲環境的理由。更何況，在即棄式瓶裝飲品以外，有其他可行的替代方案。 若慈善籌款活動是以浪費資源和破壞生態環境為代價，當中的「善」就相當可圈可點，也讓捐助者感到困惑。 期待貴機構重視本身的環保責任﹐讓活動超越單純的籌款，昇華至重塑社會珍惜資源、可持續的生活態度。”摘自「請正視「挑戰12 小時」的塑膠瓶垃圾問題」

Looking forward to a GREENER "運動同樂日".  (Personally, I’ll feel stressed and upset when I come across any act that is harmful to the environment. For that reason, I will participate in an activity only if it won’t cause stress in me.)
 
Regards,
Shirley