Unless you have been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of the recent efforts of countries and organizations to change the state of environmental issues.

If you look at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals advocated by the United Nations, it can be argued that half of the 17 goals are, in some way, associated with environmental issues. Phrases such as regulating emissions and renewable energy probably jump out to you instantly. These phrases are used so often that they have become some of the clichés of the 21st century – in a good way of course. Often the solution to tackling climate change that gets the most publicity is using electric vehicles (or other vehicles utilizing renewable energy) and taking more public transportation. While it’s important to look at climate change on a macro scale, it’s also crucial to remember that micro actions yield macro results.

When someone says the word “recycling,” the first things that probably come to mind are plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. You are right to think this. Plastic, cardboard, and paper are some of the most used and recycled materials. If you look at paper alone, 66 percent of the paper generated in 2017 was recycled. Plastic, on the other hand, is an odd one. Unlike cardboard and paper, plastic is a synthetic material, and all plastics have a different compound structure, which means they require different recycling processes.

The plastic used to make plastic bottles is recyclable, but what about polystyrene, which is used to make Styrofoam boxes?

Though the valiant effort of all countries and organizations to impose regulations and advocate for recycling is to be commended, something seems to be left out. If you or your family have ever had some delicious and fresh fish delivered to your door, you have probably noticed the lightweight white containers used. These are most probably Styrofoam boxes. They are light, cheap, and they do a great job maintaining the internal temperature to keep the food inside fresh.

During the Covid lockdowns in Beijing last year, many people purchased food online, which generated a lot of wasted Styrofoam boxes. As delivery businesses are advancing by leaps and bounds, Styrofoam products are dumped all over the globe. Unlike paper, which biodegrades completely in less than five months, or tin cans in less than 100 years, Styrofoam lasts 500 years physically, but chemically it lasts forever.

So, can Styrofoam be recycled? The answer is yes and no.

The reason plastic bottles are recycled all the time isn’t just because of what is scientifically true about the material, but it is also because of the fact that there is a market for it. People use countless plastic bottles every day, and of course there will be demands for technologies to make recycling bottles more effective.

You may argue that we produce and use countless Styrofoam objects too, so there must be a market for it. The problem with Styrofoam recycling is its “yield” and the profits involved. Styrofoam’s advantage of being lightweight is negative in terms of recycling because the material is 90 percent air. When it’s compressed and broken into smaller pieces, it is very inefficient to do so. Additionally, unlike cardboard boxes that can be folded, Styrofoam boxes are bulky and strong. They take up too much space to transport, and subsequently this becomes a reason for them not being recycled.

I recently interviewed two “waste dealers” close to my residential area to understand more about why recycling middlemen who buy recyclables and sell them to the recycling station don’t even consider this “untouched money-making method.” Both dealers claim that transporting and dealing with Styrofoam is just unprofitable. A mid-sized truck can carry at most 200-300 kilograms of Styrofoam, and the profit is not comparable to the profit from cardboard and plastic bottles. This has resulted in kilotons of Styrofoam being littered around and dumped into landfills. Based on statistics, 30 percent of the current waste in landfills around the globe is Styrofoam!

However, it is impossible to provide any unrealistic solutions to this problem, such as completely abandoning the use of Styrofoam. Reducing the use of the material is currently the most realistic solution. Delivery companies can choose cold boxes that can be dropped off and reused instead of Styrofoam boxes.

Locally, restaurants can choose biodegradable paper plates and utensils, or, even better, reusable ones, instead of Styrofoam ones that can pose health issues. Even though reducing the usage is the better solution currently, recycling Styrofoam is not a complete fairytale. With efforts from all sides, reusing Styrofoam is possible and it can also be transformed into other goods. You can do your part as well, by suppressing your craving to tear open the Styrofoam box and keeping it intact for the deliveryman to pick up and reuse.

About the author:
My name is Ethan Hu, I am an eighth-grader at BWYA (Beijing World Youth Academy). I enjoy playing soccer and clarinet. I am very passionate about learning more about our environment. I attend a club at school called Waste Magician, in which we made a composite from the leftovers from the dining hall.

Images: Ethan Hu, Pexels

If you read my first self-assessment of the Plastic-Free Challenge, you could see I have far to go. One thing I didn’t do last week is to involve my family in the challenge. Between starting school and my new job here, I thought we had enough change in our lives. So I asked Issy Dickson, the Strategic Partnerships Coordinator at Roots & Shoots, to give us some pointers for the last stretch of the plastic-free challenge, and beyond. Her suggestions are in bold and my ideas follow: 

Plan Ahead (Even More So Than Usual)

Dickson elaborates, “Plastic creeps into our lives without us even noticing, so really try and think about each day and what obstacles you will face.” I had a lot of reflection last week on where I could reduce my use and how I might eliminate plastic in some parts of my life. I did purchase a reusable coffee mug and now I keep it in my bag or always washed at home. The hardest thing to combat is definitely how it creeps into our lives: how I grab a water bottle from the table at our school’s orientation without even thinking, or how I open one for my youngest before realizing that I am taking advantage of one-use plastic, again. I appreciate it when a restaurant wants to accommodate our masks and keep them germ-free as possible, but I just stare at the plastic bag they give me for storage. Is there a better way?

How to face the challenge? This week I plan to practice saying, “No thank you. I brought my own.”

A friend in the US posted a good idea she saw in her shift as a waitress. Little heart pins or clips that hold the elastic from a mask. Now how do you stop crumbs from getting into them?

Explain to Your Children Why You Are Doing the Challenge

“Excite them about getting involved rather than simply telling them that they will take part,” Dickson says. 

I can’t start with the concept of plastic and reducing it, however. I know from experience that if our kids understand why we want to reduce plastic use in our lives. Two years ago I  organized a lake clean up day with local families for Earth Day. It worked well, but almost too well since my son will still stop in the middle of crossing the street or a parking lot to pick up trash he sees on the ground. We then added safety and germs into the equation, but to this day he will find a way to clean up any trash he sees. Now if only he can have the same mentality about his toys.

Our future is in our and our children’s hands.

I pulled out the atlas and told stories on how much we as humans depend on the earth and what we’ve slowly been doing to it. I showed them videos and graphs so they can really spot the damage of plastic visually. They get it within the larger context of taking care of our earth, so we’re off to a good start.

The challenge after that? Empower them to call me out on our plastic use.

Create a Star Chart for the Family

It took me a while to decide what each star would represent. I settled on a star for any time my kids recognize plastic and find a way to replace it or reuse it. We’ll see how that goes! 

Have Fun With It and Let Your Kids Take the Lead (They Are the Ones Who Will Think Outside of the Box)

Do you see plastic everywhere you go? Once you alert your brain to its prevalence, you can’t go back. I am currently typing on a plastic keyboard. My phone, easily the most essential tool to a parent’s day, is mostly plastic. 80% of my Tupperware is plastic, but they’re reusable so I give myself a pass on that. And last weekend, I discreetly walked through our apartment and threw any ridiculous little toys that are plastic into a donation bag. If I wait until they’re inevitably broken, they’ll just be trash. This way someone else can find joy in a dinosaur toy before their parent steps and breaks its leg. 

When we order takeout, I notice who uses recyclable materials and who overloads on the plastic and make notes for next time. Luckily, the challenge is made easier by our support systems with each other and also companies. Jinshisong, for instance, announced they’re moving to no plastic bags! We’ll have more information on that at a later time, but for now, I have to find more plastic to toss from around our home.

KEEP READING: Is Plastic Free Possible for Parents?

Photos: Unsplash

The plastic-free challenge, as set forth by Roots & Shoots, is one of those campaigns that I see on WeChat and immediately sign up for it. It’s a great idea! I want to reduce my plastic use, and isn’t an accountability group the way to do it? Well, yes, but not until I truly delved into such a challenge (meaning I start getting a million alerts from their WeChat group) do I consider what it really means. I quickly realized that in order to succeed at this challenge, I need to aim for “plastic light” and not “plastic-free,” at first.

One thing that I did right away based on the suggestion of the WeChat group is to finally create an account with Farm Fresh Plus. Every week I choose from a vegetarian or vegan box full of — you guessed it — fresh farm veggies.

Farmer Dan of Farm Fresh Plus even gave me a great suggestion for how to start my plastic-free journey: “Parents can reduce plastic use by doing a quick analysis about which area of their family life is most heavy in usage, then try to reuse or use non-plastic alternatives.” Since Farm Fresh Plus is so kind as to tell customers their cloth bags can either be sent back or reused by the customer, I kept the first two weeks’ worth.

This helped me over the next hurdle: grocery shopping. Buying fruit is one area where plastic used to seem unavoidable. Now I reuse those smaller cloth bags in smaller local markets for fresh fruits. While Ziploc bags are a cornerstone of this parent’s life: snack sizes, sandwich bags, and gallon size for bigger hauls all frequently accompany us on outings. One way I reduce their use is to get smaller Tupperware (plastic, but reusable) and those are our snack containers. I have fewer dirty dishes if I put all our snacks in there, even at home, and then it’s ready to go when we are.

For school, we decided to pack lunches this year for a number of reasons, and I saw one area where we already do pretty well in the plastic-free department: water bottles. We still have plenty of plastic ones, but at some point last winter, I shifted to metal thermoses for the whole family. Water tastes better out of those and they can easily shift to hold a hot drink if needed.

Okay, let’s talk about straws. For months I carried four metal straws and a straw brush in a cute little canvas bag inside my purse. How often do I use them? It wasn’t until day two of this challenge after I went through one entire day forgetting they existed yet noticing how often drinks come in plastic containers.

Yeah, looks about the right amount of coffee to kick start a morning

60% of my waste, if not my budget, goes to coffee drinks. I used to think it was funny when my kids yelled their Starbucks orders from the backseat at a drive-through, but now that we walk everywhere, they know my kryptonite. Nothing gets them a croissant or muffin faster than suggesting Mommy might want a coffee. Hot drinks come in paper cups but plastic lids, and iced drink containers are nothing but plastic. If I know I’m sitting in the cafe with them for a while (it’s actually quite a good spot for us to read books together since they’re a captive, croissant-eating audience), I won’t get a lid. And for iced drinks, I need to learn how to say “I brought my own mug,” 我自己带杯子了 (wǒ zìjǐ dài bēizile) or always have one of those lovely thermoses at the ready. If you had a barista your own mug, even if you don’t speak a word of Chinese, chances are they know what you want them to do with it.

Now, an excellent argument can be made that all the efforts and blame put onto individuals to change their habits let the larger polluters off the hook. They must be held accountable too. This is still a great way to introduce children to the very idea that plastic never goes “away,” much like how trash stays with us forever, in our oceans, or under our feet. Maybe reducing the number of Ziploc bags I use won’t save our planet, but it will instill the very idea in both me and my family that the planet needs to be saved.

Coming up next week: Like every parent knows, you can plan all you want, but whether or not your kids will let you stick to them is a whole different story. Check back to see my update on our plastic light challenge and how I got my family on board the No-Plastic Express!

KEEP READING: A Week Without Plastic? Roots & Shoots Thinks You Can Do It

Photos: Unsplash

Community is a flexible concept. For example, I belong to a community of people from different cultures, but who all care for the environment, and who refer to ourselves as environmentalists. Being an environmentalist is not what you say but what you do: it’s a kind of attitude that keeps us living for a certain lifestyle standard that will protect the environment. But just like the others in my community, I didn’t start off behaving, or even thinking, like one.

When I first stepped into high school, I didn’t expect myself to become so passionate about this topic. It wasn’t until our annual Global Issues Conference, where I joined a workshop that discussed environmentalism and started to think about this issue from a different perspective. I realized that I was originally so overwhelmed by this subject, including climate change, air pollution, deforestation and more, that I thought it was out of my reach. I learned that environmentalism is really about how we live our daily lives: from recycling to composting to doing things as simple and not binge shopping online. Sustainability is something we can do every single day.

In my sophomore year, I was encouraged to start my own club, Zer0, at my high school to raise awareness of this issue. Our mission is to reduce the carbon footprint at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), introduce eco-friendly resources, and educate our community. Now in the international school environment, students are strongly encouraged to join clubs and extracurricular activities outside of academics and truthfully told, part of the reason why I founded this club is to fulfill this expectation. However, as I became the club leader, I found myself truly becoming more passionate. You know that one friend that criticizes you when you’re not recycling, judges you when you don’t print double-sided, and restricts you from using plastic bottles? Slowly through this experience, I have found myself becoming that person. Now, I am the one that persuades you to reduce waste, convinces you to bring your own shopping bag, or even teach you how to turn your food waste into compost.

It wasn’t always easy though. Although it’s fascinating to explore different cultures and understand different communities within an international school environment, the diversity of the student body also leads to differences in students’ experiences and values. We didn’t all grow up as environmentalists, learning about sustainability, or caring about green initiatives. So it was definitely a rough start for me to introduce this subject to the rest of the school. Nevertheless, I thought it would be a good idea to inspire others like how I was inspired before.

Ultimately, the purpose of Zer0 isn’t to criticize anyone for not being an environmentalist or to repeat the information people are already aware of. Everyone has somehow heard about ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, the nitrogen cycle, and other issues that are seemingly impossible to change. Many of us are so overwhelmed by the scale of these problems that we feel so distanced from them and are sometimes even afraid to take action because they seem to be out of our reach. I started this club, however, to introduce community-friendly ways to approach this concern. Instead of forcing everyone to join environmental organizations or donate to eco-friendly groups, I rather show them ways to continue their original lifestyles in a “greener” way.

Throughout the past three years, our club has been focusing on small projects instead of trying to reach for the ultimate goal right away, but in a short time we’ve already achieved a lot. Projects we have accomplished include presenting in the Global Issues Conference annually, setting up booths at the annual Rock in the Park event at WAB and charity bazaar, working with WAB faculty to improve the recycling system on campus, designing our own reusable organic bags and more. Specifically, we have also made a great connection with WAB’s food supplier. They have now agreed to provide reusable cups to students who forget their water bottles to prevent them from buying plastic ones. Furthermore, they also now offer discounts to people who provide their own reusable cups for their drinks and reducing the selling of plastic packaging for food and beverages. Out of all our achievements, my favorite one is the solar-panel battery bank project. During my sophomore year, we partnered up with an outside company and designed our own battery banks that are able to recharge itself with any sort of light source. We offer custom name prints with multiple colors and have been selling them at different events since then. In my senior year, we were also able to partner up with WAB’s parent link, sharing our resources, ideas, and experiences with each other. Towards the end of my senior year, all environmental groups at WAB teamed up as the “Green Alliance.” We shared our resources, ideas, and experience with one another. Excitingly, after winter break we were able to build our own WAB composting system on campus, run by our own alliance members and using food waste from the whole school.

Changing one’s mindset can be difficult but not impossible. And sustainability doesn’t need one person to do it perfectly; it needs everyone to do it imperfectly. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” We belong to this planet, not the other way around. And it is our job, as environmentalists, to help everyone understand that.

KEEP READING: Mandarin Monday: Handy Guide on Household Waste Classification

Photos: courtesy of Chloe Chang

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 August issue

Ready for some not so fun facts? China produces 200 million metric tons of waste every year, and this massive number is expected to grow 50% faster than the global average. Walk into any supermarket and you will see a sea of plastic-packaged comestibles and drinks, whlie ordering waimai and Taobao packages is enough to leave any apartment floor awash with plastic wrapping, containers, and cutlery. (And I don’t need to tell you that the damage wrought over the 1,000 years it takes for a single-use plastic to biodegrade is not worth the average 12 minutes of use you might get from it.)

Unfortunately, China also happens to be one of five countries creating over 60% of all marine plastic debris entering the oceans, with China’s Yangtze River carrying more plastic pollution into the ocean than any other waterway in the world. With these shocking figures, the Chinese government itself has stepped up its actions, in 2008, enacting a law prohibiting retailers from providing single-use plastics for free, then in 2018, China announcing it would stop accepting other countries’ plastic waste for recycling. This year, the government began enforcing a ban on single-use plastic straws and bags.

While government-level responses like this are essential, small but significant changes are also taking place on a grassroots level in both local and international communities committed to stemming the tide of plastic waste. One such community is Global Friendship and their ‘No Plastic July’ initiative. Spearheaded by environmentalist warriors Oksana Yermolenko, Michelle Myra from LAeconista, and environmental economist Talia Soorenko in conjunction with Global friendship, the ‘No Plastic July’ initiative is bound to create lasting change in how we view and use plastics in Beijing and indeed in China.

What is ‘No Plastic July’?

No Plastic July was born in 2011 as an initiative by the Plastic Free Foundation as a 4- week echo challenge, and now has a global reach of over 150 million people working towards reducing plastic pollution and preserving the planet. And with the plastic produced globally since the 1950’s standing at 8.3 billion tonnes and only 9% of that being recycled, this initiative could not have come soon enough.

How to get involved

Global Friendship, with their global partners and eco advocates, welcome Beijing’s families and individuals to participate in this year’s Earth Day activities along with this year’s online Eco challenge which allows remote participation. It is easy to be a part of the movement.

To join the ‘Plastic Free July 2020’ WeChat group, click here to complete a short survey, after which the organizers will manually add you to the group. Once in, you’ll have access to all the information you need to get started on your plastic-free journey.

In addition, the team at Global Friendship has also prepared a list of must-watch documentaries and must-read books to get you well on your way:

Documentaries

A Plastic Ocean
“A Plastic Ocean is an adventure documentary shot on more than 20 locations over the past 4 years.
Explorers Craig Leeson and Tanya Streeter and a team of international scientists reveal the causes and consequences of plastic pollution and share solutions.”

Plastic China
Plastic China’s main character Yi-Jie is an unschooled 11-year-old girl whose family works and lives in a typical plastic waste household-recycling workshop. As much as her life is poor and distorted, she’s a truly global child who learns the outside world from the waste workshop that her family lives in and works in – also known as the “United Nations of Plastic Wastes.”

Waste Land
Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Books

Life Without Plastic, by Chantal Plamondon and Jay Sinha
This fun guide and engaging story meets you and feeds you wherever you are: brand new to the issue or a seasoned plastic-free living expert. It is a powerful gift that keeps on giving – many have told us it has changed their lives.

Plastic Free Book: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, By Beth Terry
People who are just waking up to the problems of plastic will find the step-by-step approach useful and non-intimidating. Those who are a lot further along the path will find plenty to further challenge themselves.

Other resources

www.plasticfreejuly.org

https://www.treehugger.com/

https://www.lessplastic.org.uk/

KEEP READING: Help! I Don’t Know How to Sort My Trash

Photos: Courtesy of Event organizer, Unsplash  

Is soft plastic recyclable? Do I throw my kitchen waste out with a bag or loose? Where does toilet paper go? If you’ve puzzled over any of these questions recently, you aren’t alone. 

Since May 1, Beijing households have been required to sort their household waste into four different categories: Recyclables, Kitchen waste, Other waste, and Hazardous waste, and many communities have reported shiny new color-coded bins installed in their courtyards. Yet confusion still abounds and many people are unsure about exactly how to dispose of their household waste.  

Beijing has a ways to go with sorting trash, but this new law is a step in the right direction

To get some clarity on the new system, and advice for families on how to manage it at home, I talked to Markus Dicke, the founder of German Biowaste, the first company in China to design and build biological mechanical waste treatment plants on a commercial scale. You might describe German Biowaste as an overnight success eleven years in the making. Dicke founded his company in Beijing in 2009, but business has recently taken off with the new government waste treatment policies, as demand for ecological treatment of biowaste has never been higher. Dicke is also an environmentalist and uniquely well-positioned to shed some light on this topic. 

Why is China doing this all of a sudden? 

Waste management is fundamentally an environmental issue. Better waste management means fewer greenhouse gasses, less reliance on fossil fuels, and less pollution. Furthermore, wet waste like food scraps makes up almost 60% of China’s waste but is ill-suited to either landfill (where the nutrients from the food scraps are totally lost) and incinerators (wet waste doesn’t burn well, and again, all the nutrients are lost). By separating the different kinds of waste at the source, China can create a cleaner, more energy-efficient waste management system, and that benefits everyone.“The purpose is to generate energy from waste, or to treat it so that it’s not harming the environment” as Dicke says. “With this technology, we can generate 2-3 times more energy from every tonne of waste compared to landfill or incineration.”

I’m reading a lot of contradictory information, what are the official regulations? 

This infographic– entirely in English – provided by the Beijing Municipal Government details how to sort trash correctly. 

How should I organize my bins at home?

Many families have found success with this bin on Taobao, which automatically separates into 3 categories. Of course, you don’t need to buy a special bin, but it is recommended to have clearly designated containers for the different types of trash (kitchen, recyclable, hazardous, and other.)

Scan the QR code to find this bin on Taobao

Should we put everything in garbage bags?

For ‘other’ waste, yes. For kitchen waste and recyclables, Dicke says it’s best to dispose of them loose. Ideally, you would have a reusable container for your waste which you can empty out into the bin and take back to the apartment. If this is not practical for you, he suggests collecting the waste in plastic bags, but instead of throwing them into the bin whole, just empty the items out, then discard the plastic bag into the ‘other’ waste’ bin. 

How are other parents managing waste sorting with children? 

Dicke describes children as “waste ambassadors” as once they have been educated, they are very effective at pointing out mistakes and educating the adults around them. (Think “Papa, why are you putting batteries in the recycling bin? That’s not right!”). 

However, even adults can find it tricky to sort waste correctly, so one good strategy is to designate an ‘I don’t know’ box. Whenever your child is unsure where to put an object, they put it here so you can review them together later.

If they are old enough, kids could also use the Beijing Trash Classification Reference (WeChat ID: 北京市垃圾分类宝典), a fun app that tells you how to dispose of any time you scan. For more info on that, click here.

This cute app is in Chinese only, but very easy to navigate

How can I get our ayi on board with the new system?

Many Western countries have been separating waste for decades now, but the same is not true for China. Therefore, your ayi may not be familiar with the system or the reasons behind doing it. If you sense that your ayi is unsure, explain that recycling an important value for your family and not just a weirdly elaborate game designed to make her life difficult! Keep the conversation open, and encourage her to use the ‘I don’t know’ box along with other family members.

I’m a bit confused about how my building management is sorting trash, what should I do?

If in doubt, go directly to your building management and ask for clarification. Even now, a full month since the new regulation passed, there are still many communities that have not implemented the new system, or are continuing to dump all the different bins into one big truck all the same. This can be frustrating but Dicke reminds us that a new system like this in a country as big as China “cannot be switched on from one day to another”. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but doing the right thing and forming good habits now will pay dividends in the future for both us and our children. 

KEEP READING: How to Use the Bulk House ‘Zero Waste’ Online Stores

Images: rmzxb.com.cn, Beijing Trash Classification Reference

Have the huge, stinky trash bins in your compound been replaced with neatly ordered and color-coded wheelie bins? Are you suddenly being surveilled as you take the trash out, or interrogated as to why you are putting soft plastic in with food scraps, and dead batteries? Fear not, because city-wide recycling reforms have well and truly arrived in the capital. While Haidian District officially began the rollout on May 1, we’ve noticed compounds all over the city are already enforcing the new rules.

Once completely rolled out, it will be up to households to divide their trash into four categories (or risk incurring a fine):

1. Kitchen waste: Perishable garbage generated in the household, such as organic refuse, meat and bones, and leftovers, etc.
2. Recyclables: Items that are no longer usable but can be reused after processing after recycling, such as waste paper, plastics, glass, metal, electronic waste, fabrics, etc.
3. Hazardous waste: Toxic and hazardous household substances, such as batteries, lightbulbs, paint and solvents, sanitary products, disinfectants, medicines, and camera film, etc.
4. Other waste: Household garbage that does not easily fall into the three categories above or is difficult to identify.

In addition, large waste products such as furniture and household appliances should be deposited at a designated drop-off location. Construction waste generated during renovations etc. should also be separated and deposited at an area to be specified by the local government, with the individual to bear any processing costs.

If that all sounds overwhelming, then you’ll be happy to hear that a few enterprising developers have already jumped on the opportunity to make our lives that little bit easier. One such mini-program is Beijing Trash Classification Reference (WeChat ID: 北京市垃圾分类宝典) which tells you how to correctly dispose of any item that you query. While lacking an English option, the app is easy enough to navigate for non-Chinese speakers thanks to its reliance on icons, and this also makes it a great learning tool for children. After all, to make the transition from ‘chuck it out and forget it’ to a conscientious trash shorting system, we will have to marshall the resources of the whole family! And what a better way to continue the conversation with your kids about the importance of sustainable choices and recycling.

Simply search 北京市垃圾分类宝典 in WeChat to find the mini-app.

As well as options to search by item name and voice search, the most useful function for foreigners is the nifty option to search by picture. Simply click 识别照片 and take a picture of the item you want to recycle. The program should recognize it and provide the appropriate classification.

Alternatively, kids can practice their hanzi and type in the name of the item they wish to dispose of.

If nothing else, the app makes for a fun, low-rent Chinese dictionary that you can point at objects and retrieve the Chinese characters for. Go on, test yourself.

KEEP READING: How to Talk About Recycling in Mandarin

This article originally appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger

Images: Jasmin Sessler (via Unsplash), Beijing Trash Classification Reference

When it comes to taking out the trash, our fair city is about to up the ante.

The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission recently told Tencent News that Beijing is piloting four types of garbage disposal classification, as part of new legislation on waste sorting. The newly revised regulations will not only clarify the responsibilities of government institutions but also those of us individuals.

Currently, 30 percent of the city sorts its trash accordingly, a new plastic recyclers system has even been introduced. But in 2019 officials aim to double that coverage. In the demo sorting areas that have already been established, the municipal city management committee have created several ways to divide and collect garbage, including setting up trash sorting stations; encouraging residents to participate in garbage sorting via, you guessed it, a point rewards system; collecting renewable resources and kitchen waste at fixed points; and collecting garbage at regular intervals in specific locations. Furthermore, in the future, a mobile phone app will allow residents to make an appointment for garbage collection.

Beijing has taken the lead when it comes to garbage sorting in China. Last year, more than 2,300 public institutions joined the compulsory classification team, including schools, hospitals, supermarkets, and tourist attractions. Next, Beijing aims to improve daily law enforcement inspections that will gradually cover residential quarters.

Past threatening not to collect unsorted trash, there has been no official announcement yet of how, if at all, individuals will be punished for poor recycling habits, though we can imagine it will involve the dreaded social credit system once it is finally enforced. For now, we wait to see if Beijingers can clean up their act.

READ: In 2008 Beijing Declared War on Plastic Bags… So What Happened?

Photo: rmzxb.com.cn