The word "green" has become one of the most oft-used adjectives in the Chinese media these days.

Indeed, it nowadays refers to almost anything -- including housing, food, clothes and cars.

For the increasingly environment and health conscious Chinese, green is an ideal. It means harmony between human development and ecological balance, and represents their respect for mother nature.

The whole nation is now making a gigantic leap from environmental indifference to environmental sensitivity, hoping to achieve environmental awareness at last.

The numerous environmental protection campaigns addressed to the public to generate awareness have paid off as mounting evidence suggests that there has been a gradual shift of public concern towards environmental responsibility.

To fulfil the green dream, more and more people are opting for a more active role in their daily life and addressing environmental problems.

Jun Ying is one of them.

The 50-year-old news editor in Beijing is now busy decorating her new house and she says she wants a green home by using non-toxic paint.

"Ultimately, this is driven by the fact that we want to create a healthy environment," she said, "I want to use materials that are as sustainable as possible."

"An environmentally friendly home costs more, but it will save money in the long run," she said. "It is sustainable and healthy."

You Daoming, who has a home-decorating business in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, said "greener" paint was becoming more popular among customers who could afford it.

"This kind of home-decoration is catching on, especially among those with higher incomes," You said. "When everything else is equal but your decorating plan reflects more consideration for the environment and people's health, it will set you apart," he said.

A lot of property developers have introduced "green buildings" to meet increasing demand.

They will include outdoor areas with trees and grass, and are supposed to include more efficient water systems.

"Times have changed," said Liu Deya, 52. "Strength and comfort are no longer the only standards by which buildings are evaluated.

"If I have to buy an apartment, the building materials must be taken into account."

According to Liu, some of the materials used in building -- such as cement -- contain chemicals which are bad for people's health.

Several communities in major Chinese cities are focusing on promoting the concept at home and in local neighborhoods to get people involved from the bottom up.

Environmental issues play a part in the daily lives of local residents, from separating their rubbish to saving water.

The disposal of electrical household appliances is one huge problem facing the country.

China is one of the top consumers in the world of the electrical household appliances -- and in fact currently has 120 million refrigerators, 170 million washing machines, 400 million TV sets and 16 million computers in use at this very moment, according to the China Household Electrical Appliance Institute.

Many of these goods are about to go on the scrap heap.

Such white goods must be disposed of in ways which will not inflict even more damage on the environment.

One way of disposing of them is to sell them to special shops who split them apart and dispose of the individual parts.

Primary school teacher Xue Mei, 25, sold her old television set to a special dealer who promised to recycle the materials.

A small step on its own, she said, she still felt she had made a small contribution to environmental protection.

"It makes me feel personally connected and capable of direct, meaningful participation in environmental protection," she said.

"I want to be a green girl in every way."

The green concept is also accepted by a lot of senior citizens, most of whom had few ideas of environmental problems in the past, such as expanding deserts.

"I can't read or write, but I can understand what green means to us -- green means health, means a better life and I like it," said Deng Youlan, 64, who lives in west Beijing.

She said her community used to have some sanitary problems, such as rubbish disposal.

"I cannot explain the scientific stuff, but TV programs and media have told me what I should do," she said.

Deng said she was in favor of sorting and recycling waste.

Senior middle school teacher Zhang Huaizhi, 60, a strong advocate of environmental protection, said many environmental problems are the direct result of a mismanagement of resources, which can often be traced to the lifestyles people are currently adopting.

"The long-term solutions to our environmental problems will ultimately depend on the choices and decisions made by the general public," Zhang said.

"Thus environmental protection education for the general public is of vital importance, it should start with the teenager and from the families."

Climate change is another concern.

"Most of us get involved in some environmental issue only when we perceive that it is going to affect us directly and personally," said Yang Qi, a graduate from Capital Normal University. "But environmental issues are more than just clean neighborhood surroundings."

She said society as a whole, from policy makers to individual citizens, from major industries to small workshops, should take their share of responsibility for environmental protection for the sake of the future.

"In rural China, especially more economically-backward areas, environmental protection is still unheard of for local people," said Fu Bojie, director of the ecology and environment department under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reports the Science Times.

"There is still much work to be done in the cause of ecological and environmental protection for the country," he said.

(China Daily October 4, 2004)