China Green

When most people think of China the colors that come to mind are red and yellow. I think green should come to mind also. In many ways China is far ahead of the US in conservation and sustainable practices. Energy use per person, how people travel, laws cities have put in place, how buildings are designed, and where people live are a few areas where American's have a lot of catching up to do.

At look at the roofs of houses in China illustrates this. The use of solar hot water heaters is very popular. Clothes can be seen drying the in breeze in every part of every city. Gas and electric clothes dryers seems like a strange idea here, since the sun and breeze does the job just as well and it is cheaper.

Buses and subways come frequently and actually go places people want to go. Unlike the US where siting some form of public transportation is like finding a rare bird in a forest. Laws restrict certain gasoline power vehicles in major Chinese cities. For examples only electric scooters and bikes are allowed in Nanjings city limits, and Beijing restricts the use of older, more polluting cars.

Building are built to make use of the sun in the winter and have design features that shade windows somewhat in the summer. In Beijing and Shanghai is fashionable to grow grass and trees on top of buildings to increase green space. During construction high rise buildings are wrapped in green wind screens; so cement dust in the air is reduced. Major streets have sidewalks, bike lanes with physical barriers between them and the street, plus rotaries to help control traffic but still keep it movin. The bottom floor of most residential high rise building are used for small shops like restaurants, and small shops; so people don't have to travel far to shop.

This does not mean that China does not have problems with the environment. There really is not anywhere, in the world, that does not have some problem with the environment. But China is doing something about it, both individually and collectively. Granted they are not doing these things out a concern for the environment. They are motivated by necessity. They have 1.6 billion reasons to work towards sustainability.

What these actions do though, is they give China an advantage over the other economies, because they are gaining experience and knowledge on how to work towards an economy that is sustainable. This knowledge will be important as the global competition for resources intensifies.