Beijing environment authorities have called on city residents to
quit some of their bad habits in a bid to create a cleaner
environment in the run-up to next year's Olympic Games.
Beijing residents were invited in September to list the worst
habits in everyday life that could cause pollution and to give
their suggestions on how to improve the situation.
Now the organizer -- Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau --
has revealed that they received nearly 200,000 responses.
The bureau said the most despised habits were spitting in the
street, fly-tipping, open-air barbecues and smoking in public.
The bureau said the most popular suggestions for improving the
environment included no smoking in public places, stopping auto
engines while waiting at red lights, not fly-tipping rubbish, no
spitting, sprinkling water before sweeping roads and using
environment-friendly appliances at home and at work.
Many residents also call for vendors not to barbecue in downtown
streets and suggest building and fitting out houses with
environment-friendly material.
The bureau advised residents to act on those suggestions and to
kick bad habits out of their daily lives so as to create a cleaner
environment for the 2008 Olympic Games next August.
"The air quality reflects the civilization of a city. To Improve
Beijing's air quality during the Olympics needs the combined
efforts of the government and the 17 million city residents," said
Zhang Baosen, an official of the Environmental Protection
Bureau.
The suggestions made by residents may serve as a guide to
environmental protection, he said.
A series of measures have been taken to improve the air quality
in the national capital since the beginning of this year.
From August 17 to 20, about 1.3 million cars were banned from
the city roads each day to test the effect on air quality for the
Olympic Games.
The densities of major pollutants in air -- nitrogen oxides,
carbon monoxide and inhalant particulate matter -- were reduced by
an average 20 percent, compared with that on August 16, according
to a report by the China National Environmental Monitoring
Center.
Beijing Shougang Group, China's leading steel manufacturer, has
pledged an output reduction of more than 70 percent from next July
to September to ensure the Olympics can enjoy better air
quality.
The municipal government has also taken steps to ensure people
take public transport instead of driving private cars by cutting
the metro ticket price by more than 30 percent, and also giving
discounts of up to 60 percent on bus tickets early this year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2007)