Low Carbon: China’s Buzzword

Low carbon economy, low carbon life style, low carbon technology, low carbon consumption, low carbon production, low carbon living, low carbon industrial parks, low carbon emissions, low carbon city initiative, low carbon agenda, low carbon energy, low carbon footprint, low carbon wedding, low carbon travel, low carbon sector, low carbon transport cards, low carbon housing construction—these are all terms that have appeared in articles in the China Daily in the past few days alone.  “Low carbon” is the buzzword in China these days.  Anything low carbon is good.

What, more precisely, “low carbon” means will be the subject of a future post.  So too will the range of measures Beijing is taking to ensure a low carbon future.  But there can be no doubt that the government is promoting low carbon, however abstractly, and is encouraging Chinese citizens to embrace the concept as well.

A recent piece in the China Daily indicates how pervasively the low carbon concept has been embraced.  “Inmates present low-carbon fashion show” (August 30) is a photo-article featuring the low-carbon garments designed by inmates at the Women’s Prison in Zhengzhou:

 

Original caption: Inmates present outfits during a fashion show featuring low-carbon lifestyles at the Women's Prison in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, Aug 30, 2010. More than 120 inmates showed diverse outfits made of plastic bags, leftover bits and pieces of clothes and other waste.

 

 

Original caption: Inmates present outfits during a fashion show featuring low-carbon lifestyles at the Women's Prison in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, Aug 30, 2010.

 

A week later, teachers had their turn, as the China Daily ran a photo-article “Teachers’ low-carbon fashion show”:

 

Original caption: Teachers dressed in clothes made from junk hold signs to spell out “celebrate Teachers Day” during a fashion show in a primary school in Zaozhuang city, East China’s Shandong province, Sept 8, 2010. They made the clothes with old newspapers and discs in a bid to raise awareness of a low-carbon lifestyle to their students.

 

Low carbon is definitely in.