World Environment Day

When the temperature hit an average of 20.5°C, it was recorded as the warmest February in Hong Kong for over one hundred years. While beach goers might have baked in the sun four months ago, others may raise questions about the unseasonal temperature’s link to climate change. Extreme weather conditions around the world are getting more frequent as climate change is approaching a critical point and now is the pressing challenge the world faces.

Year 2008 must have been a new water mark in the history of civilization when we saw price of oil hit the U.S. Dollar 147 tag and Al Gore got Nobel Prize for peace --- thanks to his campaign against global warming. Then came 2009, and with it the global financial tsunami --- another man made disaster that came from the collapse of housing bubble. In terms of environmental protection, the financial crisis has a silver lining in it. True, it may have driven our banking system to a near halt, but it did serve to reduce the global carbon emission (in this time of recession) a big way. Most importantly, it helped put Obama into White House, and with him the new ideological shift towards global warming and green energy.

Can we now feel more relived and thus relax in our fight to protect the ecosystem? The answer should be no, not yet. Many of us changed our driving habit because of high gasoline price. That’s good, but not good enough. It’s good to switch to a smaller car, but it’s better if you become a cyclist. There must be a conscious and concerted effort to save the earth by changing our way of life.

Everyone can help save the earth in his own small way. As an apparel designer, we know quality and simplicity save the earth too. You don’t have to dance to the drum beat of New York or Paris; you don’t have to buy each and every instant fashion from Zara and the like. Simplicity and durability help remove mountains of dumped clothes from the planet.

Maybe it’s time to buy less/quantity with more/quality; buy something that lasts longer in use but disappears faster after dump.

We should always do our part to save the world!


Facts from google.