There is a serious waste problem in our city, Hong Kong. The 3 landfills will be full by 2015, and we don’t have anymore land for another landfill. However, most of the people in Hong Kong still have not realized this critical problem and they keep on producing excessive waste. They even worsen the situation unknowingly. Let me explain how the people do in their daily lives, that leads to this problem. And, what should be done to solve the problem of excessive waste.
Firstly, materialism encourages consumption which results in the problem of excessive waste. People in Hong Kong have become more and more materialistic since Hong Kong has developed as a shopping paradise. As there are more shops in Hong Kong, it changes people’s consumption behavior gradually. So, it is common for people to buy excessive goods and it causes waste problem.
Secondly, Hong Kong people produce too much food waste which is another reason that leads to the problem of excessive waste. Since Hong Kong is a delicacy paradise, the culture of eating in Hong Kong is unique. Some of the restaurants in Hong Kong provide buffets and “all-you-can-eat” meals to cater to the unique eating habit. However, Hong Kong people always order much more than enough. So, it reveals that they always produce large amount of food waste.
In order to solve the problem of excessive waste, the government should take a more active role in reducing waste, in terms of legislation and policy-making. First of all, the government can set up laws to reduce the waste, like every household should pay for their own waste. Also, the government can also impose tax or surcharge on domestic waste produced in restaurants. Moreover, the government can establish a waste separation policy that collects one type of waste on one day. So as to educate Hong Kong people to do recycling.
Moreover, the education sector should have an important role in educating young people, developing energy and doing scientific researches. Schools should educate students on reducing waste, recycling in order to raise awareness for protecting the environment. Besides, environmental groups and universities should do more researches and experiments to develop technology to turn leftover into fertilizers or biofuels.
Besides the actions taken by the government and the education sector, the general public can do something to reduce the goods consumption and food consumption. All citizens should think before they buy, they should not buy more than enough even the goods are on sale. Thus, it can reduce the lavish consumption. Citizens can help to reduce food consumption as well. They should follow the policy of some restaurants of ordering less rice. It assists in cutting down on leftover.
As the waste problem in Hong Kong is so serious, all of us should be alert and start to take actions to solve it. Remember not only the government and the education sector have the responsibility to deal with it. Our cooperation is also a crucial assistance to mitigate the excessive waste.