A rooftop garden at 28
Nanchang Road in downtown Jing'an District catches the eye. It is
one of the models the city has put upto encourage Shanghai to be
more environmentally friendly.
Families in Shanghai are paying much more attention to
environmental issues, but adults still need to do more to set
examples for their children, according to a new survey.
The Shanghai Women's Federation conducted the survey about the
attitudes towards environmental protection and energy saving in
Shanghai families to encourage a green outlook.
The survey covered 508 families in five districts. People in the
survey ranged in age from 19 to 79 and were from wide
backgrounds.
The survey showed nearly 90 percent of families thought the
environment near their community had been improved in the past five
years.
"We see from the survey that many families are paying much more
attention to environmental protection issues as they have been long
influenced by the concept of sustainable development," said Wang
Ling, a federation officer.
According to the survey, nearly 70 percent of families prefer
organic food, 53.8 percent prefer environmentally friendly
decorative materials and 85.3 percent choose gas-saving cars.
Many said they don't use throwaway chopsticks, sell recycled
waste regularly and take their own bags for shopping. "While many
families admit environmental protection is important, they should
still make more efforts," Wang said.
Nearly half of the families said they eat frogs and a kind of
algae produced in the northern area that will affect the ecologic
environment.
Only 26 percent separate the garbage before discarding it.
Researchers found in their interviews that children have a
better awareness than their parents.
"Our teacher told us that the frog is a beneficial animal
because it eats pests, so we shouldn't eat frogs," said Yu Tianze,
a nine-year-old pupil.
Researchers suggest parents watch their own behavior to set a
good example for their children.
(Shanghai Daily June 6, 2007)
