Mid-Autumn Beach Clean-up: Thanks & Photos

Posted on October 9th, 2009 in Beach Clean-up, DB as a city, Events by Michele Felder

Thank you very much to all the volunteers who joined us at Tai Pak Beach for last Sunday’s post lantern-festival beach clean-up!

As expected, there was an abundance of glow-sticks, plastic and glass bottles, aluminum cans, melted candles, lighters and various scraps of paper and plastic items that had been discarded or simply left on the beach after the mid-autumn festivities. But, thanks to the help of over 100 volunteers (an amazing 86 of whom were kids!), the beach was spotless in just under an hour and a half!
Unfortunately, a lot of the litter at community events in Discovery Bay does not get separated, causing perfectly recyclable items to go straight to landfill, or worse, blown into storm drains and/or the ocean due to their buoyant and light-weight nature.  We’re glad to report that all the recyclable waste that we collected was separated and disposed of in the proper recycling bins provided by Winson, who reassure us that the waste will be transported to recycling centers.
We were also able to collect data regarding the types and quantities of rubbish, which will be sent to the Green Council who are compiling the Hong Kong beaches report for the 2009 International Coastal Cleanup.  The consolidated results will be sent to the Ocean Conservancy in the US to be part of their 2009 global report.  Based on the findings of this year’s cleanup, DB Green will be presenting an action plan to Discovery Bay City Management on how to make improvements for next year’s festivities at the beach.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful sponsors of the event for their support and fabulous prizes for the kid’s raffle.  A big thanks to Discovery Bay Marina Club, Dymocks, Hemingways, Kinoa-shop.com, Little Miss Green the Party Queen and Uncle Russ for their generosity.
For all who came, we hope you had a great time, and walked away with a smile and a sense of accomplishment.  Thank you for doing your part, not only for Tai Pak Beach, Discovery Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, but for the global environment!  For those who weren’t able to come this time — see you next year!
We hope to see you again at the next beach cleanup.
Sincerely,
Salina – The Way To Go

Kate and Michele – DB Green

Mid-Autumn Festival Beach Clean-up -Sunday, Oct. 4th, 9am

Posted on September 30th, 2009 in Beach Clean-up, DB as a city, Events by Michele Felder

Every year, after a wonderful night of fun and celebration, beaches in Hong Kong are covered with litter after the Mid- Autumn Festival celebrations. Large numbers of lanterns, candles and wax globs, glow-sticks, lighters, beverage bottles and food wrappers are left half buried in the sand. Not only is this rubbish ugly, but as the tide rises, a lot of it ends up in the ocean.

DB’s very own Tai Pak Beach is one of those covered with litter after the festival. At last year’s clean-up, thousands of discarded glow- sticks, bottles and numerous other items were left on the beach.

This year, come and see for yourself and do your part to help keep our beach clean, prevent marine pollution and protect the ocean. Join TheWayToGo and DB Green for this year’s annual ‘Post-Lantern Festival’ beach cleanup!

Date:  Sunday, October 4, 2009
Time: 09:00 – 13:00
Meeting place: Tai Pak Beach (under the trees, on the Water Margin side)
What to bring*: sunblock, a hat, a water bottle, lots of energy and enthusiasm!

All kids will receive a free beach cleanup crew T-shirt for helping out, and everyone is welcome to enjoy a celebratory post-clean-up barbeque at Hemingways!

See you there!

*Gloves and rubbish bags will be provided. Drinking water will be provided for free refills.

Recycling Report – Jan to August 2009

Posted on September 30th, 2009 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

As you know, a full recycling program is carried out in every village throughout DB.  What you may not know is that all of the materials collected are weighed and recorded, providing a view of the recycling trends in the community for the first eight months of 2009.  From January through August, a total of 88,667 Kg of paper, 7,348 Kg of plastic, and 4,211 Kg of aluminium, have been collected for recycling.

At a village level: La Serene is in the lead with the highest recycling rate for paper (59 kg per unit); Peninsula Village (Jovial, Haven, Verdant, Cherish, Blossom, Twilight, Crestmont, Caperidge, Coastline) is in the lead for plastic (2 kg per unit); and Seabee Lane is leading for aluminium (1.22 kg per unit).  These rates are for the total material collected for the year, not on a monthly basis.

While the overall trend for paper recycling has been increasing modestly across the 8 months of this year, the plastic and aluminium recycling rates are fairly flat and not particularly high on a per unit basis.  Encourage your family and neighbours to recycle – let’s get those quantities up –2kg of plastic per month per family should be very easy to achieve!

For more details, check out the summary report and information on which villages are included is here DB recycling stats 2009

You can also download the original reports from the Dbay web site here then click on ‘search’ and type ‘Recycle Record’. 

DB Recycling Statistics – May09

Posted on July 8th, 2009 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

DB Recycling Stats – May09

Take a look at the recycling statistics from May by clicking on the link above. Winning villages in the recycling race were: Peninsula Village for most paper – 3358kg; Greenvale for plastic – 116kg; and Peninsula Village (again!) for metal – 192kg.

Looking forward to seeing the June numbers!

Recycling Electrical and Electronic Equipment in DB

Posted on June 5th, 2009 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

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More Good News!
DB City Management has launched a recycling programme for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment. A recycling compartment will be placed at a designated area of a particular village each Sunday or Public Holiday from May through August.

Midvale is the next location scheduled for June 14th, next Sunday, followed by La Costa, Bijou Hamlet, La Vista/La Serene, Beach villages, Siena Two, Headland and Peninsula.

Items that will be accepted include: TVs, refrigerators, washer & dryer, A/C, rice cookers, microwave ovens, computers and monitors, printers, keyboards, etc.

See specific dates, locations, and a more complete list of items in the attached PDF document above, in English and Chinese.

Fluorescent Bulb Recycling in DB

Posted on June 5th, 2009 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

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Great News!
City Management has obtained approval to join the fluorescent lamp recycling programme managed by the EPD. Boxes for collecting spent tubes and bulbs have been put at the Local Management Offices. Please place the tubes and bulbs in their packing to prevent breakage during collection.

Fluorescent lights are much more energy efficient (and cost effective). Now that we have a recycling collection point, you can change all your lamps to CFLs!

See PDF of official notification in English and Chinese attached above.

DB Recycles! Plaza Day — Sunday, Oct. 12th, 11:00am

Posted on September 20th, 2008 in DB as a city, Events, Recycling by Michele Felder

Mark your calendar!
On October 12th, from 11:00 – 16:00, DB Green, together with Winson Cleaners, and DB City Management, will be hosting an information day in the plaza. There will be music, games for kids, environmental information booths, collection stations for recyclables, and talks by the EPD.

Bring your family and spend a few hours checking out the info available. Ask questions about recycling or other environmental topics. Get the kids excited and involved in understanding and improving the environment in DB. See you there!

What Cannot Be Recycled in DB?

Posted on September 15th, 2008 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

There are only a few items which cannot currently be recycled in Discovery Bay.  Below is a brief description of the main categories.

Glass:
In Hong Kong, very little glass is recycled. As the majority of recycling plants are located in China, and the cost to transport heavy and bulky glass adds significantly to the overall recycling cost, the economic incentive has been reduced to near zero.  There are some experimental glass recycling plants in Tuen Mun, where glass is crushed and made into bricks.  However the quantity of used glass they can currently absorb is relatively small.

Some Paper Types:
There are a few types of paper such as carbon and wax paper that are not recyclable. For more specific info, check this site

Paper Box (UHT-type) Food Packaging:
There is currently no facility in Hong Kong for recycling paper-based cartons used to package milk, juice, sauces and other liquid food and drinks.  Because they are manufactured using paper, plastic, and aluminium bonded together, the recycling process is more complicated than for straight paper or plastic individually.  When disposing of these packages flatten to reduce the space taken up in the rubbish bins, transport and landfills.

What Can be Recycled in Discovery Bay?

Posted on September 15th, 2008 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

Nearly everything can be recycled in Hong Kong.  Below is a quick description of the main categories:

Metal: This is the biggest money earner of all recyclables. Aluminium cans generate the most money (about 8-10c a can), but in fact all metal gets recycled from food cans, to milk powder cans, to cake tins to curtain rails and broken lamp components, even metal bath tubs – if it has metal it will be recycled. Clean the food cans for hygienic purposes. [If you can, crush all cans so they don’t take up too much space during transport and storage.]

Plastics: All plastics, regardless of whether it is numbered can be recycled. For example: broken bits of plastic and old toys; plastic shopping or food bags; all plastic packaging, even Saran/Glad wrap; CDs and cases, food trays (including polystyrene). If it has food on it, clean it for hygienic purposes. [Again crushing bottles/plastics saves space and hence, storage and transportation costs.]

Paper: Practically every form of paper that comes into your house can be recycled, including: real estate flyers, cardboard cereal boxes, Park N’Shop delivery cartons, moving boxes, newspapers, envelopes, magazines, paper bags. This is the majority of DB’s (and Hong Kong’s) recycling and earns about 50c per kilogram.  Note: Anything that is a bonded combination of plastic, paper and/or aluminium foil (e.g. UHT milk, juice boxes, soup, etc.) are not currently recyclable in Hong Kong.

Clothes:
Clothes may be given directly to your helper, church, Salvation Army (7 drop boxes around DB including one behind the post office in the plaza), or Winson Cleaners.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE):
Winson are introducing a collection program for waste electrical equipment such as: computers, monitors, printers, stereo electronics, mobile phones, and household appliances.  Every week a designated location in Discovery Bay will be established to collect these items.  See this link for the latest information.

For unwanted appliances that are still functioning, remember there are a number of places to re-sell them: Park nShop board, DB forum web site, Residents Club board, DB flea market, Inside DB classifieds.  It is always better to re-use than to recycle.http://www.dbay.com.hk/icms2/template?series=28&article=2369

Fluorescent and Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFL):
Light bulbs are recyclable in Hong Kong, but are not currently collected in Discovery Bay. There are drop off locations around HK. Due to their toxic mercury content all fluorescent light bulbs (including CFLs) should be recycled.

Rechargeable Batteries:
All rechargeable batteries are recyclable in Hong Kong. In Discovery Bay, you can drop off your exhausted batteries of all types and sizes at the HKR Management office (Behind Park nShop) or McDonalds.  Rechargeable batteries include those from products such as: mobile phones, MP3/MD players, cordless phones, portable CD/VCD/DVD players, digital cameras, electronic dictionaries, video cameras, shavers, notebook computers, electrical toothbrushes, Personal Digital Assistances, portable vacuum cleaners, power tools and electronic game sets. 2A/3A/9V rechargeable batteries also fall within the recyclable category.

How Recycling Works in Discovery Bay

Posted on September 15th, 2008 in DB as a city, Recycling by Michele Felder

In Discovery Bay each building has its own cleaning person who collects rubbish and recycling from the rubbish room every day and sometimes twice a day.  The cleaners go from floor to floor, or house to house, bagging rubbish.  These cleaners all work for Winson Cleaning Services who have the contract with Discovery Bay City Management.  Cleaners, as is customary in much of Hong Kong, are able to earn a small amount of money by selling the plastics, metals and clothes to recycling companies. Certain recycling goods are worth more than others. Aluminium cans and plastic bottles are particularly valuable.

There is one recycling company that comes to Discovery Bay on Friday afternoons at 4:30 pm opposite the Mui Wo ferry pier. They weigh and pay the cleaning staff for clothes and metals, dividing metals into particular categories. This company also takes all the paper recycling (quite a substantial amount) to their plant where it is weighed and paid directly to Winson. The company also takes plastic recycling. While they don’t pay cleaners for this plastic, it is still recycled.

In some buildings, recycling chutes, buns or storage areas are being utilised to aid recycling and collection efforts. The cleaners manage these areas and bag items for pick-up. Typically the cleaners will put the recycling items and the general rubbish into separate bags.  Recyclables may be co-mingled during collection and then separated later.

The paper and cardboard recycling is collected from the storage/resting areas on Monday and Thursday afternoons by truck; plastics and metals on Fridays. Rubbish is collected in the mornings.  By collecting rubbish in the morning and recycling in the afternoon, the two are easily kept separate. Rubbish and recycling trucks are NEVER mixed. Occasionally rubbish trucks will go to a village more than once in a day if renovation works at a building mean a larger amount of rubbish is being produced. But you should never see rubbish and recycling going in to the same truck.

On Fridays you may see metal objects along the side of the road. When larger recyclable objects are found – old water heaters, cast iron baths, construction rods, old curtain rails, etc. – that are too bulky for the cleaners to take down themselves, the recycling truck driver is informed of their locations for pick-up on Fridays en route from the tunnel to Nim Shue Wan.