Oh no, more mooncakes! Hong Kong likely to waste Mid-Autumn Festival delicacy and glow sticks in mass quantities, survey finds
Families projected to buy more of both items for this year’s festival than in past
A third of Hong Kong families will buy glow sticks to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, according to a survey by a local environmental group, which also reported that 40 million glow sticks were wasted last year following the annual celebration.
Hong Kong families are becoming more inclined to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with glow sticks as opposed to lanterns, the environmental group Green Power said. But glow sticks are extremely hard to recycle because separating the plastic cylinder from the chemicals is difficult and the chemicals could potentially damage soil, water and even human health.
The survey, involving 330 people in Hong Kong, revealed that on average a family planning to shop for glow sticks would buy up to 61 of them this year – up slightly from last year’s total of 58 per family. The number of wasted glow sticks in the city has steadily risen the past few years, the group added.
Henry Lui, a senior conservation manager at Green Power, said that rather than selling large glow sticks individually, companies now tend to sell “slimmer glow sticks in a bundle of about 50”, which he said had triggered a surge in purchases.
Green Power has been researching ways to make glow sticks more environmentally friendly, but to no avail. “We urge the public to just say no to glow sticks altogether,” he said.