Press Release
23 September 2010
Significant Improvements in Festival Celebration Habits
Green Power Continues Calling for a Low Carbon Mid-Autumn Festival
The “Consumption and Celebration Habits during Mid-Autumn Festival” survey conducted by Green Power found major progress in waste reduction by the public when celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. Fewer mooncakes were thrown away, more people recycled mooncake boxes, fewer bought new plastic lanterns, and the amount of food wasted from barbecue activities as well as family reunion dinners for the festival declined significantly. However, the estimated number of mooncakes discarded by the public exceeded 1.87 million. Green Power urges the public to be more aware of festival waste issues and celebrate a low carbon Mid-Autumn festival to help relieve global warming.
The survey results were announced during the 18th Clean-up the World in Hong Kong ceremony. Dr Cheng Luk Ki, Division Head of Scientific Research and Conservation of Green Power concluded that significant improvements could be seen in mooncake disposal. The average number of mooncakes discarded by surveyed households was 0.81, down by 35% compared to the previous year – the first downward trend since the survey began in 2004. In addition, over 50% of surveyed households recycled mooncake boxes, setting a record since 2004.
However, the estimated number of mooncakes discarded by the public exceeded 1.87 million. If piled up, these would form a tower 78 times the height of Tai Mo Shan. Additionally, the waste steaks, meatballs and sausages, and the disposable cutlery used during the Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue celebration represented a total of 1,410 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions through, for instance, producing and transporting the meat and cutlery. This amount of emissions is equivalent to that absorbed by over 110,000 trees in a year.
The public’s Mid-Autumn festival celebration habits led to significant Carbon Dioxide emissions, yet 60% of respondents did not agree there is or did not know about the link between Mid-Autumn Festival celebration habits and global warming. Dr Cheng indicated that more public education efforts will target this aspect in future. He also suggested that everyone can help avoid some Carbon Dioxide emissions and relieve global warming if we change the ways we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. For example: accurately forecast the number of mooncakes required, precisely estimate food portions for festival family reunion dinners, recycle mooncake boxes, and donate excessive mooncakes before their expiry dates.
For more details, please refer to the Chinese version of the survey analysis: http://www.greenpower.org.hk/gp/pressrelease/pr_download/230910_cleanup_survey.doc