This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on October 3. As you buy mooncakes for your family and friends, there are a few things to think about.
Hong Kong people love to eat, and festivals are a chance to eat traditional food like mooncakes. But few families finish all the cakes they buy or receive. A huge number are thrown away each year, and the number is on the rise. The leftover mooncakes go to landfills, which are rapidly filling up. As the waste decays, it produces methane gas, which intensifies global warming.
It is quite pathetic that we are trying to work out how to deal with leftovers while there are children dying of starvation in less developed countries.
Try to avoid the problem by buying only as many mooncakes as you can eat, and choosing those with minimal packaging. And then apply this rule to all the food you buy. Don't be a garbage producer - cherish our resources.
Chan Sau-ming, Ju Ching Chu Secondary School (Kwai Chung)
From the Editor