Author: gogreenhk

Analysis, Media

Cost Benefit Analysis of Golf

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Golf has been in the news recently because it has been proposed that the government take back the land that the Hong Kong Golf Club (The Club) sits on to develop housing. It is argued that it would be preferable to eliminate the golf course rather than relocate villages and destroy farmland. In order to ascertain the validity of this assertion, we should examine the costs versus the benefits of golf.

BENEFITS

The benefits of golf have been clearly articulated by the local golfing community as they seek to justify the taxpayers continued subsidy of their exclusive, members only Club:

BUSINESS

In a recent SCMP article, a representative of The Club justified its existence on the basis that Hong Kong is an international business centre and golf plays a big role in business (lots of business gets done on a golf course). As a professional starting out in my career, I remember how golf was a constant topic of conversation around the office. Many of my bosses were avid golfers and corporate events were often golf trips followed by BBQ dinners. So yes, I do believe there is a connection between golf and business. It might be a stretch however to call it an important one. There has been no research that links golf to economic development (as there is with education, infrastructure and the rule of law). If there were, Scotland and Thailand would be business superpowers today.

OLYMPICS

William Chung Pui-lam, president of the Hong Kong Golf Association, said growth of the game – recently made an Olympic sport – would suffer if the Hong Kong Golf Club’s three-course, 170-hectare facility at Fanling were lost to housing. Bobsledding is an Olympic sport, and its development is also suffering due to lack of venues in Hong Kong. Perhaps we should also dedicate public resources to its development?

THE RICH LIKE GOLF

Another housing adviser, Lau Ping-cheung, said the land use of golf courses should be reviewed together with all other private recreational clubs. “But we need to discuss and understand the possible social impact, because Hong Kong is an open city with lots of rich people and foreigners who might be interested in golf.” Rich people also like private jets, perhaps we should subsidize runways for private jets as well?

THE PRESENCE OF DOMINIQUE BOULET

Golf commentator Dominique Boulet, a former Hong Kong representative and a member of the club for almost 30 years, said: “If we lost the Hong Kong Golf Club, I’m not sure I would live here any more.” I never realized how much I would miss Mr. Boulet until he threatened to leave. In fact, I had never heard of him before he made this statement to the SCMP.

COSTS

PESTICIDE USE

NY States Attorney General’s office published a report entitled Toxic Fairways. The report, which was particularly concerned with the potential for groundwater contamination, concluded that these [NY] golf courses applied about 50,000 pounds of pesticides in one year, or four to seven times the average amount of pesticides used in agriculture, on a pound per acre basis. Pesticide and fertilizer runoff contaminates ground water, poisoning both humans and wildlife.

It is quite ironic, the number of golf charity events held to raise money for cancer research when there is  evidence of major excesses of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain, colorectal and prostate cancers in golf course maintenance workers and superintendents exposed to high concentrations of carcinogenic herbicides and fungicides. The cost of cancer treatment for golf course workers will undoubtedly be borne by the taxpayer funded public healthcare system.

WATER USE Continue reading “Cost Benefit Analysis of Golf”

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Shopping

Pre-Owned Clothing – Green Ladies

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GREEN RATING  Deep Green. Putting good clothes to better use.

SERVICE RATING  Good. Sales representatives are friendly and patient.  Equipped with a fitting room.  Locations are not that convenient though – far away from MTR stations.

LOCATION Headquarters:  No. 85 Stone Nullah Lane. Walk from Wanchai MTR exit A3. Phone 2831 3204.

Branch: UG shop 18-19, C C Wu Building, 302-308 Hennessy Road. Walk from Wanchai MTR exit A2. Phone 2110 3482.

WEBSITE http://greenladies.sjs.org.hk/

“Any used clothes for me to wear?”

One day in 2010, I posted the above message online.  Shortly afterwards, a few friends began to give me clothes (and handbags) that they no long wanted. From then on, apart from underwear and socks, I have not bought any new clothing.

When I used to shop for clothing, I always stuck to the same styles and colours, and it was pretty boring.  Now it’s becoming much more fun.  Every time I receive donated clothing from friends, I have a new look.

In addition to “adopting” used clothing from friends, I also go shopping at second hand clothing shops.  The Oxfam Shop located in the basement of Jardine House is very convenient for those who work in Central.  The shop is managed by volunteers, hence has a very easy going, relaxed feel.  One drawback though is the lack of a fitting room, which makes it much harder to figure out whether you can fit into a pair of pants.

In comparison, GREEN LADIES, a social enterprise set up by St. James Settlement is much more professional. Although it’s in an inconvenient locations, the shops are set up in the same way as other boutiques. Clothes are artfully displayed. Shoes are placed together according to size.  Handbags and jewellery occupy their own corner.  There is a fitting room for you to try things on.

These are my purchases.

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DKNY top, 100% silk, HKD128

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Very comfortable pair of shoes, HKD 88

You can donate your worn clothing to Green Ladies, or they can help you to sell them on consignment.

You may be wondering, why don’t I just put unwanted clothing into the recycling box? Continue reading “Pre-Owned Clothing – Green Ladies”

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Activities

Where to refill your water bottle during July 1st protest?

GREEN RATING  Deep Green. Bring your own bottle.  There are 4 water dispensers along the protest route to refill your water bottle for free.  Avoid buying plastic bottled drinks.  It is no use to put the plastic bottles in the recycling bin – they still end up in the landfills.  And our landfills are filling up fast!

This past week, there have been a number of reports in the news about the government’s attempt to enlarge the three landfills in Hong Kong.  Residents in Cheong Kwan O vehemently opposed it, some of them even going on a hunger strike.  That forced the government to withdraw the controversial plan to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill, for the time being.  But it has not given up on its plan to expand the other two landfills (one in Tun Mun and another one in Ta Kwu Ling).  Discussions will continue next week in the LegCo.

At the same time, the so-called plastic bottle recycling scheme has turned out to be a complete joke.  Due to the tightening of the import rules for recycled materials into mainland China, most of the plastic bottles collected from the recycling boxes are now being sent to the landfills.

According to the “Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2011” issued by the Environmental Protection Department, in year 2011, Hong Kong produced 100 tons of PET bottle waste every day.  One empty PET bottle weighs about 50 grams.  That means everyday we throw away two million PET bottles into the landfills.  Since this is such a huge and lucrative business, the beverage companies spend generous amounts of money on advertising.  They hire famous athletes, actors and singers to show up in their advertisements. All they want is to have you, the consumer, buy more and more bottled drinks. The fact that the landfills are filling up? Since there is no law that imposes producer liability on them and it does not cost them a cent to have their bottles sent to the landfills after consumption – it is none of their business. Continue reading “Where to refill your water bottle during July 1st protest?”

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Agriculture, Analysis, Media

Outsourcing Meat Production to China

polyface farm

While out searching for farmland one day, I encountered an elderly woman at the bus stop and struck up a conversation with her. When our conversation turned to farming, she recalled that she used to grow vegetables and raise chickens, and that this practice significantly reduced the amount of pests she had to deal with. The chickens pecked at the ground, eating the pests, and the seeds (and roots) of weeds. By simply feeding themselves, the chickens helped her to dramatically reduce pest and weed problems without  using any chemicals!

In the past, many farmers also raised pigs that were fed with plant waste. This created another win-win situation. The plants and parts of plants that humans didn’t or couldn’t eat were used to fatten up pigs. Plant waste was recycled as pig feed. Kitchen waste (that now makes up 40% of the garbage going to our landfill) was also turned into pig feed. According to the SCMP, the recent increase in the garbage going to our landfill can partly be attributed to the reduction in the number of pig farms in Hong Kong. Continue reading “Outsourcing Meat Production to China”

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Analysis, Books, Media

Paper Books vs. Online Content

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This article will explore the widespread belief that e-books and online content is environmentally more friendly than hard copy paper books. First, however lets take a look at the history of technology.

The invention and adoption of every technology is a response to a problem that existed in the past. Today, we tout the coming age of (clean energy powered) electric or hybrid cars as solution to reducing the fossil fuel consumption, air pollution and CO2 emissions caused by internal combustion engine powered cars. The car however was itself a response to an even earlier environmental problem – the vast amounts of manure on city streets caused by the horse and buggy.

At the time of the invention of the internal combustion engine, no one considered CO2 emissions or climate change to be a problem. This illustrates the law of unintended consequences. We cannot foresee all the environmental impacts of technology, let alone foresee how it will be used. The internet is prime example, invented by the military for fast, secure communications, it has become a worldwide tool for commerce, social interaction and political movements (as well as porn, online gambling and Facebook poking).

The proliferation of this technology has resulted in enormous data centres, communication networks and billions of end user devices (computers, iPads, iPhones) consuming vast amounts of energy. According to Yale, Since 1990, household energy consumption has been rising worldwide at 3.4 percent a year, in large part because of the rapid spread and increasing sophistication of electronic devices. At this rate, household energy consumption doubles every 20 years.

Lets compare the environmental impact of the production, transportation, use and disposal of paper versus electronic content. Remember, all electronic content is stored on and accessed through electronic devices. This is the elephant in the room. Continue reading “Paper Books vs. Online Content”

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Shopping

Response from Timberland

A few days after publishing our last article, Earthkeepers or Landfillers? we received a response from Timberland. In addition to offering to replace the boot, they wrote us a long detailed email about their social and environmental sustainability efforts. Please see the below excerpt. We leave it to you to make your own judgement.

We would like to assure you that Timberland is committed to making products that are of high quality and dependability. We pride ourselves in our continuous innovation to constantly improving performance and sustainability, making products that are outdoor-proven and long-lasting; at the same time practical and fashionable. Continue reading “Response from Timberland”

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Shopping

Earthkeepers or Landfillers?

timberland

PRICE HK$699 at the Timberland Outlet Store in Tung Chung

PRODUCT RATING Atrocious quality. Within 3 months, the boots lose their waterproofing, the soles begin to detach from uppers and the fabric tears in multiple locations. On the positive side, the fit is excellent and the boots are very comfortable.

GREEN RATING Greenwash. The most important attribute of an environmentally friendly product is durability. I can imagine nothing worse than sending a product to the landfill after 3 months of use. Nevertheless, I do appreciate that the bag it came in was made of 30% recycled paper.

My experience with Timberland started on a very positive note. I was in love with the fit, comfort and lightness of the boot. I was also attracted by the green image of the company. I remember watching an interview on a financial news channel, where the CEO said ‘although less than 10% of customers considered Timberland’s green initiatives when making their purchasing decision, it was none the less important that company to do the right thing environmentally’ (or something to that effect).

After less than a month of use, my positive feelings began to change when the boots lost their waterproofing and my feet started getting wet. (I have now been informed that Timberlands perform very well when used in environments such as shopping malls and city sidewalks. Being naive, I actually believed the advertizing and tried to use the boots outdoors.)

Shortly after this, I noticed the soles detaching from the uppers and the fabric begin to tear. Continue reading “Earthkeepers or Landfillers?”

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Agriculture, Analysis, Food, Shopping

Why is organic food so expensive?

Spraying Strawberry

As an organic farmer, I am often asked “Why is organic food so expensive?”

The simple answer is that it’s not. It is that conventional (chemical) food is cheap. Or more accurately, the price of conventional food does not reflect its true cost. Let me explain:

The introduction of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides dramatically increased yields and lowered labor input costs, thereby decreasing the price of food. However, they also imposed costs that are not reflected in the price consumers pay for food, what economist call externalities.

Chemical fertilizers are cheaper and more potent than organic fertilizers, resulting in widespread overuse. The use of these highly concentrated fertilizers has created vast dead zones in our oceans, rivers and lakes. This is a cost, but we as consumers don’t pay for it. To grow an equivalent amount of food, organic farmers need to transport and spread much larger quantities of slow-release, low concentration fertilizer on their fields which results in increased labor costs that is paid for by the consumer.

Chemical pesticide and herbicide use is contaminating ground water worldwide. Atrazine, one of the world’s most widely used pesticides, wreaks havoc with the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarter of them.  So while the price we pay for conventional food is cheap, the cost to the environment is not. Without chemical pesticides, organic farmers suffer greater crop loss from pests. Since consumers will not accept blemished fruits and vegetables, organic farmers end up with significantly less salable produce. Hence, they need to sell the salable produce at a higher price in order to survive.

Finally, there is no such thing as organic herbicides, so the organic farmer must manually or mechanically remove weeds. This again, increases the cost of production and needs to be paid for by the consumer. Continue reading “Why is organic food so expensive?”

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Personal Care, Shopping

Non-petroleum Moisturizer

Coconut Oil

PRODUCT Coconut Oil

PRODUCT RATING Good. It doesn’t have the creamy texture that we have become accustomed to in conventional moisturizers, but it’s not greasy like baby oil either. The fragrance will be familiar to those that enjoy coconut candies and desserts.

GREEN RATING Deep Green. Coconut is a sustainable fruit with many uses. I feel much safer putting an edible oil on my skin than I do using conventional moisturizers. Skin is our largest organ, why take chances by putting synthetic chemicals on it.

AVAILABLE AT The fair trade, organic version pictured above (HKD 159/200ml) is available online at Fair Circle. You can also buy a large bottle (HKD $32/1litre) from your local Indonesian grocer that caters to maids. They use it for cooking, but the shopkeeper told us that the lifeguards at the nearby pool use it as suntan lotion. (NOTE: It comes in a large plastic soda bottle so needs to warmed and the put into a container with a wider mouth for easy use.) According to this website, it is important to buy pure coconut oil, that is not hydrogenated, because it has a lower melting point and will not clog your pores.

Most mass market moisturizers are petroleum-based and contain an ingredient list that requires a chemistry degree to make sense of. Petroleum is a non-renewable resource that is a primary cause of climate change. As petroleum becomes scarcer, we will expand extraction into more fragile ecosystems, such as the arctic. The scarcity of oil has already resulted in the nightmare that is the Canadian tar sands. Continue reading “Non-petroleum Moisturizer”

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Personal Care, Shopping

Natural deodorant: Does it work?

Crystal

PRODUCT Mineral crystal deodorant stick HK$20-30. They are sold under various brands such as Crystal or Naturally Fresh.

PRODUCT RATING Very good (when used correctly – see below). It doesn’t prevent you from sweating, by clogging up your pores, like antiperspirants and it doesn’t cover up the smell with a strong fragrance, like conventional deodorants. It lets you sweat naturally, but inhibits the growth of bacteria that causes body odour.

GREEN RATING Quite Green. The crystals occur naturally and do not contain synthetic chemicals like conventional products. The packaging is excessive, however the product is much smaller in size and last significantly longer (up to 9 months) than conventional products thereby producing less garbage overall.

WHERE TO BUY IT Sasa

Sweat is important in allowing the body to naturally cool itself, but many of us are concerned about smelling bad.  Antiperspirants use an aluminum based compound to prevent sweating. Aluminum ions are drawn through ducts in your skin into your cells. The ions bring water with them, causing the cells to swell and squeeze the ducts closed so sweat can’t get out. For those that sweat alot, this may permanently shrink the sweat gland, decreasing the amount of sweat it can produce. To read more about how they work click here.

In contrast, deodrants use strong fragrances to cover up smell and contain hazardous anti-bacterials like Triclosan to inhibit the growth of the bacteria that causes odour. Conventional deodorants and antiperspirants contain a myriad of chemicals that may or may not be good for your health.

This recommended alternative is made of naturally occuring mineral salts. When a thin layer of salt is applied to your skin, it can prevent the growth of bacteria, and thus control odour. Continue reading “Natural deodorant: Does it work?”

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