China Is Doing Something Right To Protect The Environment

China is always regarded by many foreigners as one of the world's biggest polluters. All right, we cannot deny that as a developing country, China sometimes has to sacrifice the environment for economic development. However, in recent decades, the Chinese government has been deeply aware of the harm of environmental pollution to the earth, and has taken many measures to remedy it. There are also some responsible large companies that have joined the team to protect the ecological environment, such as Alibaba Group, they have established an "ant forest" in the desert regions of China which has already planted hundreds of millions of trees.

There is no doubt that China is doing its best for environmental protection.

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Here are some good examples.

1. Bags

Plastic bags (or plastic products) are one of the main sources of white pollution for they cannot be degraded. In order to reduce/avoid the use of plastic bags, the Chinese government has advocated stores not to provide customers with plastic bags. Therefore, when you go shopping in your local mall or supermarket, don't forget to bring your own bag, otherwise you may need to spend a few RMB to get one. And that is why you can see all kinds of cloth bags with brand logos filled with groceries on subways or buses. People are trying to avoid extra expenses.

2. Walk Everywhere

Compared to driving in a private car, you will find that in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, most people rely on public transportation or their own feet to get to their destinations. Of course, this is not to say that the Chinese are too poor to buy a car, but it is difficult for people to apply for a license plate. For example, if you want to get a license plate in Shenzhen, you need to register and apply online at first, and then like buying a lottery ticket and wait to see if you win a lottery. Usually, the chance of winning is less than 1%. At the same time, Shenzhen also implements the "Car Restriction Plan", specifically, if your license plate number is odd, you can only drive out on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and weekends. Even though sometimes it may bring inconvenience to life, the air quality has indeed improved a lot.

3. No Dryers

In China, you will find that almost all households have washing machines, but no dryers! After washing clothes, most people will dry them out on the balcony or outside of the windows by using the sun or wind to dry. What a huge energy saving.

4. Recycling

Before coming to China, you may have never seen such a scene like: someone is riding a tricycle in the community, yelling slogans over and over again for you to sell the "scrap" at home to him/her. In fact, they are looking for recyclable items such as plastic bottles, cardboard boxes or broken appliances. In some big cities, such as Shanghai, strict garbage classification policies have been implemented for a period of time. Citizens ought to throw different types of trash into the correct trash according to the regulations, otherwise they will be fined.

5. Heating & Cooling

The northern part of China tends to provide centralized heating, while it is replaced by personal heating/cooling devices in the south. Whether to turn on your inverter air conditioner to heat or cool the room is completely up to you. Some people (especially the elder people) even hate these machines, and they prefer to open windows and doors to cool the room in summer. Moreover, if you unfortunately catch a cold in the hot summer (runny nose), your kind-hearted colleagues will usually turn off the running air conditioner intimately, and open the windows to let in fresh air which will make you feel better.

Please let go of your prejudices. China's environmental protection road may be have to long way to go, but it is undeniable that they have taken effective measure to make some changes. And we should all do this!