Embracing the Greener Future

On July 20, 2015, the inauguration ceremony of the Shanghai Green Youth Volunteer Alliance was successfully held at the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. It was jointly organized by the Shanghai Green Administration, Communist Youth League (Shanghai Municipal Committee), Huizhong Eco-friendly Development Centre and Jiefang Daily, the Shanghai Youth Volunteer Association, and other units associated with the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum.

Li Haijun, from Huizhong, introduced a new online platform (including web, Wechat and a mobile application) called “Green Account” that can provided credits to reward people for taking steps to protect the environment. People can also use the platform to learn the basics of waste management.

About 5 years ago, the waste management campaign was started as a trial on the municipal level in Shanghai, but the campaign still requires more outreach efforts to help every household practice the idea of waste management. Ms. Sheng, from a local community on Wanhangdu Road, shared with the audience her story of being a community leader conducting trash-sorting. Ms. Bai, a famous NPC deputy, was also appealing to the audience to care for our environment by practicing waste management.

Before the ceremony, Shanghai Roots & Shoots and other environmental protection NPOs were interviewed by Jiefang Daily about this green campaign in Shanghai. We found out that more white-collar workers would eagerly participate in green volunteering projects like our Eco-Office Project. They can begin to live a low-carbon lifestyle by bringing sustainability to their offices.

Additionally, during the ceremony, Shanghai Roots & Shoots and 68 other NPOs were presented the flag by the Shanghai Green Youth Volunteer Alliance. We hope to get more university students and those who work for corporations involved as Green Mentors to promote this waste management campaign in more schools, communities and companies. Everybody, old and young, can make a difference.