Environmental Consciousness

It is a sunny day in London, as I cross the green on the way to work, I can’t help to appreciate this quiet and nice neighbourhood. Environment does have an effect on our mental health, which is becoming a problem in the modern society we live in. A peaceful, clean and eco logically balanced environment could help us calm down, relieve pressure and create harmony in life.

On the first day I moved to my new flat in London, I found a roll of trash bags in the hallway. Later on I found out that these orange bags are not just “free trash bags”, they are used to collect recyclable items from households. And they have very detailed instructions on the bag what can go in as “recyclable objects.” I have started sorting my household trash and find most of the trash items can actually go into these big orange bags. Well, I admit it takes a little more efforts to sort your trash but it is worth the time considering the benefits for the environment.

Europe is more advanced in environmental protection than other continents I have lived. The first time I was travelling in Europe (that was one year after I left the USA) I found that most of the soft drink bottles are made of glass instead of plastics, apparently because they can be used/recycled even glass bottles are heavier and easy to break so it is probably not cost effectives in terms of the logistics. And also I found in many hotels throughout Europe, they have started using the refillable Shampoo/Body wash bottles (those bottles stick on the wall) to replace those disposable little bottles.

Three years living in the USA, I rarely saw good initiatives to protect the environment. In a way I guess they don’t have to worry that much as Asians and Europeans, where the land has been used for thousands of years and certain measures have to be in place to prevent the deterioration of the environment.

In China, I find there is a tendency to get things started, but not getting it done so the expected result is never achieved. In the apartment I used to live, which is in a brand new modern complex, there were two separate trash bins, one for recyclables and one for non-recyclables. But there is no clear instruction what should go in which one. So in the end, most people just dump everything to non-recyclable bins.

Then today I read this interesting article on the “recyclable phones.”

The UK's Science Museum is due to open a new exhibition this Wednesday which is to showcase pioneering phone technologies as well as the environmental impact of mobile phones. The exhibition, opening in the science and technology news gallery of the Science Museum - will include the first UK display of NEC's phone with a biodegradeable cover? currently only available in Japan. Also on display is a prototype phone cover with an implanted sunflower seed. As the sunflower grows, it gets additional nutrients from the biodegrading phone cover. This unique design, yet to hit the shelves, should give you the option to simply bury your used phone cover in your garden? thanks to researchers from Warwick University and materials company PVAXX.

Phone with a real sunflower growing on it, that does sound quite innovative!