China's Green Brothers: why green is cool

When things are going wrong, it's easy to point fingers and focus on what's going wrong. Case in point: China's environment. It just seems so easy to dwell on the problems rather than to call attention to what is being done right.

That's where China's Green Brothers come in.

“The environmental situation in China is very serious. And for the large part, foreign media has been negatively focused on China. The media obviously know there are so many problems and the problems are huge. After reading a New York Times feature on China called Choking on Growth, I had a reaction in my conscience. If we keep writing negative news, we won't inspire people to change.” John Romankiewicz, one of the three Green Brothers said.

The Green Brothers, through their website China's Green Beat, produce podcasts that, unlike mainstream media, focus on what is going right. “We focus on examples of renewable energy, environmental protection that's happening now, on what is being done correctly in China.”

Romankiewicz, who came to China two years ago, set up Green Beat with Shane Zhao. Zhao, who came from Heilongjiang province, saw for himself what effect coal mining and development could have on a city. In January this year, Rene Ng, an actor who was born and raised in Canada, joined them.

The challenges are many

Romankiewicz thinks that while energy efficiency is one of China's biggest problems, it is also the area where they can make the most headway. “It's an important first step that China needs to focus on because that's where the all the easiest and low-cost opportunities are. But because coal, which is used for 80 percent of China's energy needs, is so cheap, energy efficiency hasn't factored into the equation as much.”

“The second biggest problem is water. There's a project to bring water from the south to the north because it's drying up. Water conservation and proper water treatment are also important issues for China.”

According to Romankiewicz, the ordinary Chinese might not be aware of the extent of China's environmental problems. “Around the cities, you can see a lot of simple government propaganda encouraging people to save water or energy. People in China often do try to save energy and water because it translates to savings for them and Chinese people are generally very frugal that way. I don't think they understand, though, what their water or energy resources are really like on a national or regional level. There needs to be more education in that area.”

“In China, recycling is something that people are aware of but there's not as much personal participation as you'd find in Japan or Europe. There's no citywide collection method; there are just individuals going around the city and scavenging for recyclable materials that they can then sell. Only about 2 to 3 percent of the population actively engage in recycling while others are just aware of the concept.”

Bringing a new mindset through podcasts

Recycling still has to take a hold in China. (Image: Radio86)The Green Brothers have to date produced several podcasts about topics ranging from windpower to green dating. “We try to adopt different formats in the podcast because each format could have a different effect. We use comedy to make people laugh while at the same time teaching them that being green and saving the environment is cool. We also have documentary podcasts to inform people and instructional podcasts to share daily green habits that anyone can do.”

The podcasts take anywhere between two- to three-weeks to produce, Romankiewicz says. “Our audience has been predominantly foreign because we haven't taken proper steps to get it out to as many Chinese as possible. But we are launching a new phase of development where we're going to be posting more on Chinese websites. We're also doing a new project with Chinese universities around the country as a first step to getting our message out to as many young Chinese as possible.”

“We hope to create not only optimism among the young people but also plant the idea that saving the environment is cool. If we could get through the younger generation, that's going to change China's future.”