Latest comments posted about Cooler living for China's youth? on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1278-Cooler-living-for-China-s-youth- http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1278-Cooler-living-for-China-s-youth- A lot of this goes back to the seemingly endless argument that goes on between the west and China. The west says that China needs to limit its environmental impact because it will have repercussions for the world. China, on the other hand, says that it is not fair for the west to limit them like that because the western world already went through this sort of transformation ages ago and therefore can afford to focus on limiting environmental damage. This is fair in the sense that the west is telling China not to do what the west has already done. On the other hand, if China's consumptions reaches the per capita consumption in the west, then the environmental devastation around the world would be of epic proportion. It is a difficult situation all around and we have to work together to reach a compromise that allows China to continue to advance economically without causing world-shaking levels of pollution. It's a difficult middle-ground, but hopefully the awareness among the youth in the east and the west will lead to a better and cleaner future. Mon, 05 May 2008 04:38:47 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-7337 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-7337 If the Chinese Youth learn to speak out and communicate world wide..then everyone can begin to understand Chinese culture and life style, and the world can enjoy Chinese progress as much as the Chinese..my motto is work hard, be faithful, trustworthy and enjoy life...Henry Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:22:11 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4366 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4366 It’s a deep-rooted contradiction of China’s reality as people mentioned earlier: whether to encourage consumption to maintain the employment rate or to discourage consumption to protect the environment? There is one solution for this dilemma which is to allow people to consume but make it clear that any consumption always comes with a price. Take transportation for an example, government should restrain the purchase of automobiles but what they should do is as follows: firstly, to raise the patrol price and fuel tax to make people pay for the extra patrol and discharged pollutant, (for the same capacity, cars use twice as much patrol as buses do); secondly, to raise the parking fee and reduce free parking as people using cars have to pay for the extra public spaces the cars take up; thirdly, to make good use of the taxes to improve the public transportation in order to attract more people to choose the more convenient alternative transportation; fourthly, the urban road construction has to be user-friendly and more considerate for pedestrians and cyclists; lastly, to reduce the use of government vehicles, not only because it’s unfair on environment, resources and society to allow government officials to high consumption, which will set a bad example to follow, but also it will put off people’s enthusiasm on environment protection since it doesn’t really matter to be economic or not. Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:26:49 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4349 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4349 The Chinese government has announced many contradictory policies out of its inner fighting, trying to balance between environment and growth. The members of the new government board has showed great determination to resolve environmental issues, but there are too many deeply-rooted diseases and the formerly GDP-oriented system cannot be turned around overnight. The coexistence of two generation of policies bewilders the public. There are TV commercials persuading us to buy a new car, and there are slogans persuading us to go back to public transportation. Maybe we should have more patience, giving the government enough time for the change. Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:32:50 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4334 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4334 Many citizens think environmental protection has nothing to do with them. Actually they do not know irreversible enviromental damage will affect their life eventually in different ways. It is not true to say that people are not aware of the effect of environmental deterioration. The problem is that they have less idea about what they should do to prevent possible results. To improve this situation, the government is supposed to increase information dissemination and education. I believe it will make a big difference to improve the public's consumption style if the public can get information from and be educated by the authoritative departments, like the government, instead of some other sources like media. Juliet Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:49:32 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4314 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4314 - The government is sending mixed messages. On one hand it wants to increase consumption (to avoid over-reliance on exports and create an auto industry in order to create jobs). On the other hand it wants to improve pollution, which is finally getting embarrassing internationally (especially in Beijing with the Olympics due). - The youth in China appears to me, as in all countries, highly influenced by the media. In turn the media is heavily influenced by the government. They are so far only pushing fairly meaningless environmental awareness, not yet moderation in consumption (which they actively want to encourage to expand the economy, like I just said). - There is no stopping increased auto ownership in China. Companies have been allowed to start offering 0% auto finance and there is a massive network of expressways opening. - It would be nice if the US would restructure its lifestyle and set a better example. Only 5-10% of workers in LA commute to work by public transport. - With respect to energy saving lightbulbs, my experience is that Chinese are more efficient already because electricity is still a significant expenditure. They currently often use very dim bulbs or, in a chandelier fitting, unscrew half of them. In this article a 25W is a standard light bulb -do they even sell a bulb that dim in the US? In Chinese hallways, auto-off timers with clappers save a lot of energy and aren't found much in UK/USA. In terms of water, the showers are very low power and bath tubs are very shallow and small. Hope it stays that way, or they will have to bathe in recycled sewage, like in Singapore and parts of Australia. - I think an important issue is that Chinese goods (and buildings) are cheap and not made to last. They inevitably break and have to be replaced very often, which is unsustainable. Everyone in the world could buy better quality products, made to last. I think the Chinese government might eventually start to encourage this in order to move the economy to a higher level and leave the low quality stuff to Indonesia. - Side point: it is clearly hypocritical for the west to blame China for pollution generated in making goods which the west buys. Much of the expansion in China basically comes from the west sending over its most polluting industries. This is a global economy now, so blaming each other does not help as much as examining one's own position within the world. Mr. Professional Investor (working in London, lived in Beijing for 8 months) Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:52:34 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4307 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4307 I think the Chinese Youth are entitled to their economic wealth and should be free to enjoy their standard of living without recrimination. I think China should operate on the same level as Casino conglomerates and Tobacco Companies. Las Vegas casinos, for example, happen to be the largest contributors for gambling addiction, there are also the same number of churches as there are Casinos, and guess who subsidises the church? WK Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:34:02 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4288 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4288 I wouldn't exactly list owning automobiles as just some sort "pattern of consumption" like people choose to own an ipod. More energy efficient vehicle, higher emission cap, more vehicle tax, possibly more carpooling? Sure! Asking people to permenantly give up the aspiration of owning an automobile is too unrealistic. Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:45:47 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4298 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4298 The average income of RMB 2006 for Beijing is including those who are temporarily unemployeed, elderly and children, whereas the subjects of the research are mostly young generation being employed. The income level of these two groups of people are therefore incomparable. RMB 5000 can't be counted as high-level income in Beijing at anyway. Even given the unrealistic scenario of zero increase on property price, a person with RMB 5000/month needs about 20 years to buy a flat outside circular zone 4(barely downtown), not counting any grocery and medical spending. For a man who has to raise a family, it is only enough to have RMB 5000/month to sustain a whole family's living. That is under the condition of no one gets sick in the family. Things like getting a car or travelling abroad are just unthinkable with that income level. Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:19:20 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4304 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4304 If stores and supermarkets with crowds of customers everyday can involve themselves into the movement of environmental protection, I believe it’ll set a more influential example than any organisations or individuals. I suggest all the supermarkets remind people to stop using disposable products. Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:02:25 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4302 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1278#comment-4302