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The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:
The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) held the World Environment Day (WED) 2016 publicity event with the theme "Be Climate Ready, Don't be a Big Waster" at Tamar Park, Admiralty, this afternoon (June 5). The event aimed to mobilise the public to practise low-carbon living in order to combat climate change.
Officiating at the event were the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing; the Chairman of the ECC, Mr Lam Chiu-ying; the Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong; and representatives of supporting organisations, namely the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Hong Kong Design Institute.
Addressing the event, Mr Wong said that climate change is a pressing issue for the world and the Government has set up an inter-departmental steering committee to co-ordinate and implement the work on combating climate change. He called for collaborative efforts from various sectors in the community to build a low-carbon Hong Kong.
With assistance from the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Sha Tin), students from Munsang College Kindergarten and Yan Oi Tong Ng Wong Fung Ying Kindergarten performed the song "Use Less, Waste Less" at the event to spread the keynote message of "Use Less, Reuse, Recycle". In addition, display panels were set up to introduce the achievements of Big Waster in the past three years together with tips on low-carbon living. A number of upcycling workshops, games and a swap party were also held to promote carbon reduction and energy saving in interesting and interactive ways and to encourage the public to lead a low-carbon life.
The ECC, the MTR Corporation and the Education Bureau jointly organise the ECC MTR Environmental Award for Schools every year to nurture a sense of care and responsibility for the environment among students, as well as to encourage their creativity in environmental protection. A Big Waster Four-panel Comic Design Competition was organised this year to encourage primary and secondary students to feature Big Waster as the main character in their four-panel comics to promote the message of low-carbon living. Awards were presented at the event to winners of the school competition and the winning entries were also showcased at the event venue.
In addition, the WED 2016 thematic roving exhibition will run from June to September at various shopping centres and public venues to display the aforesaid panels and winning entries of the school competition. The ECC's Student Environmental Protection Ambassadors will introduce WED and the panel contents at some exhibition venues. The exhibitions are scheduled as follows:
Date Venue
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June 11 and 12 Tai Po Mega Mall, Tai Po
June 18 and 19 Plaza Hollywood, Diamond
Hill
July 2 to 10 Eastern Community Green
Station, Shau Kei Wan
August 1 to 7 apm, Kwun Tong
August 16 to 21 Immigration Tower,
Wan Chai
August 23 to 26 Central Government
Offices, Tamar
August 29 to September 4 Yau Lai Shopping Centre,
Yau Tong
The United Nations has been celebrating WED on June 5 every year since 1972 to encourage active worldwide efforts to protect the environment and save the Earth.
Founded in 1990, the ECC aims to enhance public participation to protect the environment. The ECC holds promotion events for WED every year and organises environmental programmes, including the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence, the Hong Kong Green School Awards and the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme. Information on the ECC's programmes and activities is available at www.ecc.org.hk.
Ends/Sunday, June 5, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:01
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