Road to 5**﹕A greener Mid-Autumn Festival

[2018.09.17] 發表

【明報專訊】◆Source A

Mountains of rubbish are everywhere after the Mid-Autumn Festival, as moon-watchers left behind 55 tonnes of garbage at parks and beaches on the night of the festival. Despite environmental groups' calls, many people continued to celebrate the festival with glow sticks.

As witnessed by some netizens, some people in Yiu On Estate Park, Ma On Shan bended glow sticks into rings and threw them into trees. There were at least 50 such rings hanging on the branches. Others on the internet pointed out that glow sticks contained toxic chemicals which made them unsuitable for reusing and recycling, while others added that they had seen huge garbage bags on the street filled with used glow sticks.

Hahn Chu, Director of Environmental Advocacy of The Green Earth, said that as a bag of colourful glow sticks cost just dozens of dollars, many citizens had no qualms about indulging in them on the pretext that the Mid-Autumn Festival was a "once-in-a-year" occasion. This showed that citizens cared too little about the environmental consequences. Chu hoped that Hong Kongers would have the environment in mind even when celebrating festivals.

Source:Ming Pao,2017.10.06

◆Source B

# I say no to glow sticks. (See picture)

■Questions and answering guidelines

1. What are the negative effects on society when people use so many glow sticks on the Mid-Autumn Festival? (6 marks)

?Aggravating the problem of refuse

According to Source A, citizens left behind 55 tonnes of garbage, much of which was disposable glow sticks. It is obvious that the heightened use of glow sticks is putting a strain on Hong Kong's landfills.

?Polluting the environment and ruining the cityscape

According to Source A, people threw a huge number of glow sticks into trees. This could have put a burden on trees and affected their growth. Furthermore, glow sticks contain materials that can harm the environment.

?A waste of useable resources

Glow sticks, which are manufactured with a large amount of plastic, are intended for citizens to buy and use on the Mid-Autumn Festival only. They are a colossal waste of resources, since they have little value and are disposed of after the festival.

?A waste of governmental resources

The government needs to mobilise additional human resources to remove garbage at parks and beaches after festivals. The use and disposal of so many glow sticks is a waste of governmental resources, which can otherwise be used on other aspects of society.

2. In what ways are Chinese traditional festivals environmentally unfriendly?

Give your opinions based on the above sources and your own knowledge. (8 marks)

?The emphasis on pomp and extravagance in Chinese traditional festivals easily gives rise to over-spending and generates waste. Since Chinese people prefer a lively, festive atmosphere, they celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year in a lavish manner, and some of the decorations they use(such as Fai Chuns and objects used in ceremonies) are often disposed of after the festivals, thus aggravating the problem of refuse.

?Chinese people's hospitality often means that a large amount of food is left uneaten. To celebrate festivals, they like to invite their family and friends for meals. When entertaining guests, the Chinese people tend to think that to display generosity, it is necessary to prepare a large amount of food. A lot of leftovers are often created.

?Chinese people do a lot of shopping to celebrate festivals. Chinese New Year, for example, has an emphasis on "ringing in the new year by discarding old things", during which Chinese people buy a lot of new clothes and items or dispose of a lot of useable things, creating waste.

?Chinese people have a habit of giving each other gifts during festivals, such as food products for celebrating new year and mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Sometimes there are more gifts than needed, which have to be thrown away.

Text: 劉俊偉, liberal studies teacher at Po Leung Kuk Yao Ling Sun College

Translation: Terence Yip

[通通識 第529期]

更多教育
集師廣益﹕1W@nt5**——密碼設計與網絡安全
【明報專訊】開學後,學校的網絡系統有所變動,教職員和同學的戶口密碼要配合網絡供應商的要求,既要有一定長度,亦要有大小階、英文字母、數字,最好... 詳情
焦點新聞﹕一周焦點通識新聞
【明報專訊】■9月2日(全) 巴西國家博物館焚 200年歷史、位於里約熱內盧的巴西國家博物館發生大火,2000萬件藏品恐被燒?... 詳情
飛上雲霄!
【明報專訊】飛機的發明將世界各地連接起來,從前遙不可及的國度,今日可搭飛機輕易往返!如你有搭過飛機,相信對機長廣播、安全示範、機艙環境等都有... 詳情
尋找STEAM蹤[:飛機師 話你知
【明報專訊】香港航空早前舉辦「飛上雲霄」學生航空體驗計劃,帶領20多名小學生參觀機場及機艙各處,講解航空知識。最令孩子感興趣的當然是閒人勿進... 詳情
新聞追蹤:小學飯盒減鈉 小進步仍超標
【明報專訊】叮咚叮咚——午膳時間到,同學可暫且放下書本,休息一會,享用午餐!不少同學都會經學校訂購午膳飯盒,最近衛生防護中心抽驗飯盒,發現鈉... 詳情

明報網站 · 版權所有 · 不得轉載
Copyright © 2018 mingpaocanada.com All rights reserved.
Ming Pao Daily News A wholly owned subsidiary of Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation Ltd.
Toronto Chinese Newspaper

1355 Huntingwood Drive, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1S 3J1 | Tel.: (416) 321-0088 | Fax: (416) 321-9663 | Advertising Hotline Tel: (416) 673-8250