Chinese nuns are trying to raise environmental awareness just as the first-ever red smog alert was raised in Beijing.
During a three-day alert Dec. 8-10, Beijing issued limits on cars, factories and construction sites, while also suspending schools.
In smog-affected neighboring Hebei province, Family of Dawn Sister Wang Qingfen said the nuns teach volunteers and children to produce less garbage by using food waste as organic fertilizer.
"We try to handle as much garbage as we can so as not to increase pressure on society in waste disposal," said Sister Wang, director of a church-run orphanage for disabled children.
'Country of garbage'
The environment is a major problem in China, especially in villages where rubbish is everywhere, said Sister Wang, "It makes us feel like China is a country of garbage."
In November, the orphanage opened a shop to sell used clothes and other second-hand items.
"We can help prevent waste if we can collect these used clothes and resell it. We find that people buy too many clothes. Some were thrown away after being worn only a few times," she said.
According to the Ministry of Urban/Rural Development, China's 650-million rural population produces 110 million tons of garbage a year, with 70 million tons dumped without primary sorting.
On Nov. 30, the state council approved an government effort to reduce rural household garbage in more than 90 percent of Chinese villages by 2020.
Franciscan Sister Yuen Mei-fun said rural people do not have much knowledge on the harm caused by logging, which leads to many landslides in China.
The Macau-based superior-general of the Chinese province was awarded an educational merit medal by the Macau government Dec. 7 for her efforts in environmental protection at the St. Rosa of Lima School, where she is the director.
The school signed an agreement with nearby supermarkets to not give away plastic bags to student shoppers. The experience was shared by other schools in Macau.
Her congregation also taught environmental awareness in their formation for nuns and laypeople in China.
"But the difficulty for them is insufficient information flow. Many Chinese people do not understand the seriousness of pollution and its impact," Sister Yuen said.