Borax Beef, Fake Eggs, Reused Buns: Food Woes Continue In China
May 23, 2011 by green team
Filed under Food, Green Reporter
Any one course of a 10-course Chinese banquet could kill you.
This list doesn’t include the infamous 2009 melamine-powdered-milk incident that killed several children and attracted international attention. Even though Chinese officials said that all of the melamine-tainted milk products had been destroyed, 26 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder were just uncovered in the end of April at an ice cream bar factory in Chongqing.
via Indiana Public Media.
China warns of pressure on food supply in next 5 years
January 30, 2011 by green team
Filed under Food, Green Reporter
Chen Xiaohua, a vice agricultural minister, said he expected China’s consumption of grains to grow by 4 billion kgs a year between 2011 to 2015.
Consumption of vegetable oil will grow by 800,000 tonnes a year over that period, while meat demand will rise by 1 million tonnes annually.
“Our country is facing great pressure in the supply of agricultural products,” the Shanghai Securities News quoted Chen as saying at an agricultural meeting.
via Reuters.
Millions face water shortage in China
January 29, 2011 by green team
Filed under Green Reporter
More than 2.2 million people and 2.7 million livestock are facing a water shortage as the worst drought in decades continues to linger in many parts of China.
Some wheat-growing regions, including Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shanxi and Jiangsu provinces, have received little rainfall since October.
More than 4 million hectares of crops across the nation have been plagued by the drought, according to the latest statistics from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
In Shandong, although some cities had some snowfall on Friday, experts from the provincial meteorological center said the snowfall was too little to help.
Water supplies to nearly 1 million residents will cease if the drought in the province lasts until the end of March, disaster prevention officials have warned.
via China Daily.
China swap store boosts green cause
January 26, 2011 by green team
Filed under Green Living, Green Reporter
Spring cleaning for Lunar New Year usually involves throwing out lots of things we no longer use.But heres a thought – how about exchanging items that are seldom used, for something you really need?A shop in Beijing reduces wastage by doing just that. The Swap Shop is not a charity store, or a collection centre for junk. Neither does it house prized antiques. It sells items that are seldom used.Everyday items such as electronic dictionary, torches, and ornaments have been exchanged for other products.
via Channel NewsAsia.
China province hit by worst drought, warning on wheat
January 26, 2011 by green team
Filed under Green Reporter
Most of China’s wheat-growing areas in the north are suffering from drought with some seeing no rain for more than three months while the second most important wheat province of Shandong is facing its worst drought in a century
via Reuters.
China Study: City Dwellers Are Greener
January 20, 2011 by green team
Filed under Green Living, Green Reporter
It certainly surprised us to find that they didn’t automatically offer plastic grocery bags, and instead ask if you needed to buy from them at 10c each at every supermarket we visited in Shanghai.
Speaking to friends who lived there, however, revealed some skepticism about the green initiatives – e.g. the no-plastic bag movement was monetarily motivated, and the World Expo reduction in air pollution was over as soon as the Expo was.
People who live in the biggest cities are most likely to recycle, volunteer for environmental organizations and participate in other “green” behaviors, found a new study, which surveyed urban dwellers in a variety of Chinese cities.
The study didn’t consider whether city size also affects green living tendencies in other countries. But the choices people make in China are likely to have environmental consequences throughout the world in years to come, said lead researcher Jianguo “Jack” Liu, a sustainability scientist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
“China is the largest country in the world, it has had the fastest growing economy in the last three decades, and urbanization is growing really fast,” said Liu, who pointed out that China produces more carbon dioxide emissions than any other country. “Anything that happens in China now is affecting the rest of the world.”
via Discovery News
Sustainable Hotel Erected in Six Days
November 16, 2010 by green team
Filed under Design, Green Reporter
Ark Hotel Building construction timelapse 远大可持续建筑 2天建成15层楼 from Differentenergy on Vimeo.
This mesmerizing time-lapse video clip shows the rapid construction of the Ark Hotel in Changsha, China. Its not amazing that this clip has been making the Internet rounds – it is amazing that a 15-story hotel could be erected in just under a week. Theres an even more fantastical element in the tale of this hotel: its builders claim it is an example of sustainable architecture. Which made me think more about first the company, Broad Sustainable Building, and then the people, the construction workers, who actually made this magical feat happen.
via TreeHugger.
