IT'S GOOD to be clean and tidy, but overusing tissues can hurt the environment. Perhaps it's time for people to return to an item from the past - the trusty old handkerchief.
A local environmental body, Greensense, has conducted a survey which has revealed that the problem of Hong Kong students using too many tissues is alarming.
In the past two months, Greensense interviewed 5,410 primary school students. It discovered that 27 per cent of the respondents in Primary Five and Six used more than five tissues to clean their faces and hands every day.
From Primary One to Four, 10 per cent of the respondents use more than five a day.
When questioned about their use of fabric hankerchiefs, 52 per cent of the lower forms' students brought handkerchiefs to school each day while only 35 per cent of the higher forms' students brought one.
And 68 per cent of the respondents said they liked using tissues because it was more convenient, while 54 per cent said it was cleaner.