HK girls strike award with lightning proposal
Ateam from St Catharine's School for Girls, Kwun Tong, won this year's CLP Young Power Award with their creative proposals for a low-carbon lifestyle. They suggested using lightning to generate electricity for the city's residents and equipping shopping malls with water and rubbish recycling systems.
'We think lightning can generate a lot of power. In our proposal, we suggested using it to generate electricity for Hong Kong. It's a new idea that hasn't been used anywhere else,' said Form Five student Lam Wing-to.
Wing-to's team, named 'Lightning Bolt, Strike', also believes shopping malls can be made greener by setting up water and rubbish recycling systems and planting a lot of trees outside.
'Hong Kong is full of shopping malls. If we implement these measures, it would help make Hong Kong a low-carbon city,' she said.
The award is part of the Young Power Programme organised by CLP Power and Junior Achievement Hong Kong. Its aim is to offer students a chance to contribute to a sustainable future and have a better understanding of the city's power industry.
A total of 25 teams from Hong Kong, the mainland and India submitted proposals for a low-carbon lifestyle. Four teams - one each from Hong Kong and the mainland, and two from India - were named champions.
The mainlanders came up with a unique solution for their hometown, Nanning , in Guangxi province .
'Many people drive to work on the mainland, and carbon emissions are a serious problem. We came up with carpooling as a green solution,' said Zeng Daxi, 17, from Nanning No 14 Secondary School.
'We handed out 150 questionnaires to car owners and asked them where they lived and worked. Then we grouped together those who take the same route to work and invited them to form a carpool of three people for a month. The result was encouraging - there was a reduction of 66.8kg of carbon emissions per week.'
The winning team from Gujarat, India, proposed a Solar Island, where solar panels are the main source of power. They came up with an innovative way to promote the idea of green living in India.
'We used street plays to deliver the message to schools, villages and households in India,' said 15-year-old Adwitiya Datta Ray from Chanderbala Modi Academy. 'We found it was more interesting for the public.'
They also organised tree-planting activities in their area.
Three of the four teams took part in a 10-day programme recently, visiting CLP's facilities in Hong Kong and its biomass and wind farm projects in Shandong .
'The programme helped me learn about eco-friendly ways of living and the importance of taking action. I also learned leadership and communication skills,' said Wing-to.
