Set sail in the sea of green dream

An idea ignited a green dream.

In the year 1998, the Yangtze River suffered a massive basin-wide flood. The destruction of vegetation in the middle and upper streams of the Yangtze River, which was exposed during the disastrous flood, caught the attention of seven girls, including Yan Yun. Soon afterwards, in 1999, when everyone saw using disposable chopsticks from the canteen as normal, the young girls learnt that China exported disposable chopsticks and the production of them consumed a large amount of wood. Yun developed the idea of promoting environmental protection and spearheaded a campaign to reject disposable chopsticks on campus. In the meantime, the girls used their scholarship to print an environmental publication called Green, the first environmental publication in Nankai University, and distributed it to all the dormitories. But after just a few issues of Green, the scholarship was no longer affordable. They realized that they could not do much just on their own, and the cause of environmental protection needed the effort from everyone. On 21 March 1999, World Forest Day, the Greengroup Action was formed in Nankai University.

Green actions are recognized.

Since the formation and through the continuous efforts of countless group members, Greengroup  Action has steadily developed and even invited Jane Goodall to give a lecture in Nankai University in 2005, which generated a huge response in and outside the university. The group has also developed in-depth exchanges and cooperation with environmental NGOs such as China Environmental Protection Foundation; received strong support from government agencies such as Tianjin Ecology and Environment Bureau and Tianjin Forestry Bureau; and maintained close communications with other environmental protection associations from universities in Tianjin, Beijing, Lanzhou, Ji’nan and Chengdu. In 2018, Greengroup Action received the Partnership Certificate at the 10th International Youth Summit on Energy and Climate Change (IYSECC).

Source: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8D%97%E5%BC%80%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%BB%BF%E8%89%B2%E8%A1%8C%E5%8A%A8%E5%B0%8F%E7%BB%84/9199568

By now, Greengroup Action has grown into an association of more than 200 members.  They organize various activities every year to promote the concept of environmental protection and healthy lifestyle, and have been doing so for 22 years.

The winds of environmental protection blow across.

Plastic shopping bags are consumable items in life, and every year China consumes a large amount of plastic bags. Those bags bring convenience to people, but bring serious environmental pollution and ecological damage as well, which is being increasingly recognized. Easily decomposable, reusable eco-bags can avoid such environmental pollution.

Eco-bag DIY activity is a traditional activity of Greengroup Action. In the process of DIY, members and participants use paints and colours to add unique decorations to their bags. They enjoy the fun of handcrafting, also fulfil the green principles, implement their slogan of eco-friendliness and encourage more people to join the environmental protection causes.

In addition, as of now, China’s Express Industry is still expected to flourish with the growth of the internet and consumer demand, while the express waste and the huge amount of carbon emissions is and will remain on the rise. China’s express boxes represent a serious waste of resources and there isn’t a unified recycling system of cardboard. According to statistics, the recycling rate of express boxes in China is still less than 20%, while in some developed countries, the recycling rate of cardboard packaging reaches about 45%.

Since the last two years, they organize express box recycling activities on campus after the Double 11 shopping festival. Xiaomeng Duan and her roommates “carried” the delivery boxes to the spot and chose to exchange them for paper towels, soap and other household items. The exchange of express waste for exquisite and useful gifts is the main way of this activity. She couldn’t believe when she heard she had brought 17 kg of recyclable cardboard boxes, “I didn’t expect to collect that many”, continued Duan, “I’m glad that I can contribute to a clean campus and I will continue to keep the good habit of sorting waste and do all I can to save resources!” The volunteers were busy erasing the personal information from the express boxes and then packing them up. The work was carried out in an organized way while protecting the personal information of students.

We need to do more.

There are many more activities like these, virtually every year comes a new variation. Currently, in Nankai University, disposable chopsticks are no longer available and biodegradable plastic bags are currently in use in the canteen. These changes couldn’t come without their efforts. While most of the associations at Nankai University were founded because of a common interest, the Greengroup Action was because of a common green dream. They hope they can raise awareness of environmental protection in people’s minds and work together to make our homeland a better place. According to Jiao Liu, deputy leader of Greengroup Action, “Our efforts have been recognized by the public, which motivates us to keep on going. We hope that more people would join us and be part of environmental actions, work together for a healthier life and a greener earth.”