Free Electricity for Clean Air?

Have you ever had free Electricity for a year - I have not – and I certainly did not think it would happen in Hong Kong!

It has come true with our latest Electricity Power Bill.

For the last two months we used HK$250 and that is really cheap, being US$30 or US$15 for a month! Then we get a government subsidy as part of their initiative to help reduce inflationary pressures to households. The end result is that we do not have to pay for electricity for the last 2 months and are unlikely to have to pay for the rest of the year!

This all came about through the latest budget wanting to help low income households. Happy with that though all households get this subsidy at a time when the government and community is also running programmes to promote consuming less energy to help reduce the impacts of electricity generation on the environment, through the likes of burning coal which contributes to a significant portion of the HK generated air pollution.

Surely the subsidy for the heavier Electricity users could be going to the installation of better energy generation technology rather than the pockets of these people who will probably start to use more electricity and therefore just adding to the air quality issue

I must thank the HK Government for this subsidy as it does allow a number of people to use the subsidy to promote and take action in helping

You can read the Budget item at http://www.budget.gov.hk/2008/eng/budget65.html

And the implementation of the item at http://www.fstb.gov.hk/tb/eng/info/electricitychargesubsidy.html

Grow well
Dr Merrin

Cleaning the Beach

Well after a Sunday helping clean the Silvermine Beach in Mui Wo and the following Saturday morning cleaning the Nim Shue Wan Beach at Discovery Bay I thought I had seen rubbish on beaches.

Caught the ferry back from Discovery Bay to Mui Wo and could not believe what used to be lovely sandy beaches were now dumping grounds for polystyrene (that is the first thing you see as it is the lightest and so is on top) and everything else you can only just imagine.


This is the Wang Tong River though it gives you an idea of the other beaches.

No this was not directly put there by humans, rather it was Typhoon Hagiput showing us how much is floating around the Hong Kong waters. Hagiput on 23 September kindly delivered it to prominent beaches to remind us all that we should be looking after our waterways more than we are. It also reminded us of the power of the sea when combined with a high tide and a storm surge. Check out http://www.kinzie.com/renovations.htm for an idea.

So together with some Hong Kong XL Life Members and the dedicated team from DB Green (http://dbgreen.org/) Louise and I headed off to Nim Shue Wan Beach at Discovery Bay to take away another layer of rubbish.

There was everything from Fridges to Boats to Washing Machines to Shoes and of course other rubbish. It is incredible what has washed up and this is only one of Hong Kong’s beaches.





We even had the local Chinese lady directing us not to take things to the bin but instead to her place. What a laugh when she turned up with her sledge hammer and pliers to recover the best bits!!!


The photos tell the story and of course the cleanup ended with a snack at the beach.


Grow well
Dr Merrin

Global Warming - A great Animation on the topic

Here is a great 11 minute clip that I think outlines some of the major issues to consider around Global Warming. What are the options and what we can do to keep the tipping point beyond where we get to.

Also read the script at http://wakeupfreakout.org/wakeup.html and there are references to go even further.


Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Looking for Earth Champions in Hong Kong

As you know there are many great people in this world who are really making a difference to the environment.

I have come across an organisation called Earth Champions Foundation
(http://www.earthchampions.org/) who are helping communities to discover (or as I like to say - Unearth) their location environmental champions.

Nominate your Earth Champion or read about those from previous Quests online at http://www.earthchampions.org/

Grow well
Dr Merrin