8 weeks of clean living

I recently spent a week in Hong Kong and Macau visiting a friend (needless to say the flight over there wasn’t very clean living). China is not generally known for its forward thinking environmental policies and the same holds true for the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions. The air quality there was noticeably poorer than it is in San Diego, and Hong Kong’s intense consumer culture manages to make America’s look quaint by comparison.

While I was there I tried to keep my eye out for budding signs of environmentalism and green policy, as well as other environmentally salient parts of the Hong Kong landscape. Below is a collection of pictures representing that search. Most of them are of recycling bins that I found (which are few and very far between), but I have also included a picture of the coal-fired power plant on Lamma Island and some other notable images.

In addition to some of the larger changes that I’ve been making, there are a host of little things I try to do that also have environmental consequences. Time for my first list!

I:

• Turn the water off while soaping my hands, brushing my teeth, and doing dishes (and generally try to waste as little water as possible)
• Turn the lights off whenever I leave a room
• Shop for groceries with a reusable bag, and when I do end up with a plastic or paper bag I use them as trash and recycling bags, respectively (I never have to use actual trash bags)
• Recycle everything that is recyclable, including electronic waste
• Unplug chargers and other electronics while not in use (also, I’ve turned off the circuit breakers for my electric heaters, since they draw power even when not in use)
• Use my cell phone in lieu of having an alarm clock
• No longer initiate or renew subscriptions to magazines or newspapers (they are painfully wasteful and obsolete these days)
• Never buy non-rechargeable batteries (they are awful for the environment, classified as household hazardous waste, and way more expensive in the long run than simply using rechargeables)
• Collect any extra unused napkins given to me at restaurants, etc. for later use, and use cloth napkins for dining at home (I never have to buy napkins)
• Take the stairs
• Reuse packing materials myself, or take the peanuts back to UPS/FedEx stores for reuse
• Pay bills online, and cancel all paper statements from financial institutions
• Try to stop as much junk mail as possible (see this helpful article)
• String as many trips together as possible if I have to use the car (and carpool when possible)
• Let my dishes air dry instead of using heated dry
• Buy environmentally friendly personal care products such as 100% recycled toilet paper, paper towels and facial tissues that are whitened without chlorine bleach, phosphate free dishwashing soap and laundry detergent etc.

There may be some small things that I should be doing that I’m not doing. Feel free to share some small green tips!

Follwing up on my previous post, I took my old cell phone to the Apple Store and asked to recycle it earlier today. Unfortunately, the store employee I spoke to seemed to have no idea what I was talking about when I asked to turn in my phone. After going to the back to check whether he could take it, he returned saying, “Yeah, we do that; I can just take it.” I was able to give him my phone along with the charger, but I’m a little suspicious as to whether all of those items were actually taken back for recycling. In other words, despite the prominent recycling policy feature on Apple’s website, the rank and file employees do not seem to be aware of the program, leaving its efficacy in doubt.

I took the plunge and bought an iPhone a few days ago, and the now I have a scratched, dented, cracked and otherwise undesirable old cell phone in need of disposal. Old cell phones present a well-known and massive e-waste problem, so much so that a new law a recently went into effect in California requiring cell phone retailers to take back and recycle old cell phones and rechargeable batteries. Since Apple now sells cell phones, they have implemented a cell phone recycling program both by mail and at all of their retail stores (not just in California). You don’t have to buy anything from Apple in order to drop off your cell phone and you can also drop off old iPods. I’m not sure whether you can drop off cell phone chargers and other accessories, but I’ll try and find out when I drop off my phone.