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Introduced as part of the resources available under the Green Office Programme (GO!), ‘Green Matters’ is an e-newsletter aiming to provide the University community a platform for sharing sustainable practices/stories/tips as well as upcoming green events.
'GO!' is developed to promote a number of simple actions staff and students can take to make their workplaces more environmentally-friendly. For details about 'GO!', please refer to the ‘GO!’ website. |
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Celebrating the Achievement of Competent Green Offices and Say Bye to Bottled Water
• Green Office Programme (GO!) Phase 2 Launch Ceremony
‘Bring Your Own Cup’ to reduce use of single-serving bottled water
 Phase 2 of the Green Office Programme (GO!) was successfully launched on 9 April 2013 followed by a ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ Tea Party. Vice-Chancellor Prof. Joseph Sung expanded on the theme of ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ in the welcoming address. ‘Single-serving bottled water commonly served at meetings takes a lot of resources to produce. Apart from plastic, bottled water takes about 3 times the amount of water they hold to create them. Finally, they make their way to the landfill after one quick drink... I hope that cups will be more often used in meetings in future so we will generate less waste.’ Apart from bottled water, Prof. Sung also thought that it was not necessary to provide corsages at events. ‘Among all actions, changing one’s own lifestyle is the hardest yet most important step... we are grateful for the support from all ‘GO!’ offices. With your help, we can change our office practices.’
Recognition of ‘Competent Green Offices’
A ‘Competent Green Office’ e-seal, unveiled at the ceremony, was granted to 64 ‘GO!’ offices that successfully fulfilled the requirements of ‘GO!’ in Phase 1 (2012). The ceremony also welcomed 40 academic and research offices and one administration and service unit, including the offices of all 8 Faculties, that joined ‘GO!’ in Phase 2 (2013).
Please check the ‘Competent Green Office 2012’ page for a list of offices that have received the ‘Competent Green Office’ e-seal. A full list of ‘GO!’ member offices can be found here.
Sharing of green practices by videos and live discussion
 At the ceremony, offices shared successful green practices via videos as well as a live sharing session. At the live sharing session moderated by APVC Prof. Fung Tung, Mr. K.C. Yuen, Acting Director of Personnel Office, shared the office’s work towards making meetings paperless. The office first reviewed their work flow and decided that documents submitted to them for meetings should be paperless to start with. ‘Now we use emails to notify participants of the time and place of the meeting and also the online location where they can download the e-agenda and appendices from an online location. Instead of taking piles of documents to the meetng, participants just need to bring their notebooks or ipads. For convenience, the documents are also shown on a projector screen. ’ It is indeed an amazing achievement that the Personnel Office has cut its paper usage by 35% in less than a year since implementing these measures.
The second speaker was Prof. K.P. Fung, Co-Chairman of the User Committee on General Management of the Lo Kwee-Seong Integrated Biomedical Sciences Building (LKS IBSB) and Chairman of the User Committee on General Management of Choh-Ming Li Basic Medical Sciences Building. He shared the current collaboration with Estates Management Office (EMO) and Campus Development Office (CDO) to study the electricity consumption of various laboratory equipment in LKS IBSB:’ We grouped our lab instruments in ‘core labs’. With the help of EMO, we plan to install smart meters in the Core Lab on the 2nd floor, and to study together with the researchers how we can save energy from our daily operation.’ The building users have held meetings with EMO colleagues to discuss energy conservation opportunities. Staff nominated as the departmental Energy Wardens in the two buildings also helped EMO colleagues perform walkthroughs of the building. Some of its lifts will be shut down during non-busy hours and users started identifying fume cupboards that do not have to be kept on constantly. On the educational front, Prof. Fung recently worked with the Campus Planning and Sustainability Office to produce a powerpoint of green tips for student societies that will be using the Choh-Ming Li Basic Medical Sciences Building, to encourage energy-saving behavior.
 Ms Irene Ng, Assistant Director and Head of the Student Activities Section (Office of Student Affairs), shared her office’s progress towards reducing use of bottled water in meetings with students. She mentioned that the meeting locations are usually quite far away from the main office and may be difficult for staff to bring reusable cups to the venue: ‘Four major meetings on orientation activities are held every year with an average of 60-70 student participants per meeting. We used to provide packaged drinks and single-serving bottled water. Now we just bring a large bottle of water and some paper cups for students to fill on their own depending on need. Nevertheless, to reduce waste further, students are encouraged to bring their own bottle to meetings.'
The ‘GO!’ ceremony was concluded with a ‘Bring Your Own Cup’ party. To promote the concept of green events, fair-trade organic coffee and snacks as well as food selected with due regard to WWF’s ‘Sustainable Seafood Guide’ were served at the tea party.
Please feel free to check out the video recording of the ‘GO!’ ceremony as well as two new videos premiered at the ceremony promoting green practices for offices and individuals:
• ‘GO!’ ceremony recording
• ‘ We are making a difference 環保，由心出發！’
• ‘ Bring Your Own 環保，由心出發！’
The University Library, the Office of University General Education, ITSC, Personnel Office, Shaw College Office and United College Office, and the student body CUHK Green World shared their green practices in the ‘We are making a difference’ video. We are grateful to all offices and individuals that took part in these videos for spreading the green message and sharing successful green practices.
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CUHK Restricts the Provision of Single-Serving Bottled Water and Corsages at Indoor Events/ Functions |
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AIESEC ‘Hong Kong Youth to Sustainability Summit 2013’ - Register Now! |
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To reduce waste and support green event planning and management, CUHK’s Administrative and Planning Committee (AAPC) agreed at its meeting held on 23 April 2013 to restrict the provision of single-serving (individual-portion) bottled water and corsages at indoor functions/ events organized by the University under normal circumstances. Flexibility would be given to the organizers for handling special situations.
For many of CUHK’s indoor events, alternatives to single-serving bottled water are not necessarily more expensive or inconvenient. In place of single-serving bottled water, we encourage event organizers to explore alternatives like engaging a caterer to provide beverages along with reusable dishware, or provide large bottles of water (1L or above) and cups for event participants to pour water for themselves as needed, or better still, encourage event participants in advance to bring their own bottle to the event.
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AIESEC Hong Kong will organize the international conference ‘Hong Kong Youth to Sustainability Summit 2013’ on 14-15 June 2013 at Youth Square in Chai Wan, Hong Kong.
The conference will bring 400 students from local and international university and high schools together to form a think-tank to call for actions and commitment towards the sustainable development of Hong Kong, specifically in the aspect of Business to Community, Environmental Protection, and Education.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is proud to be a supporting partner in this Youth Summit
All local and interational students are welcome to register as delegates. For more details, please visit the official site and the Facebook page.
Don’t miss this chance to connect with local and overseas delegates, meet great speakers and learn about how you can work for a sustainable future!
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CUHK Joins AASHE and HKGBC
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Opening of Shiu-Ying Hu Herbarium
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The Chinese University of Hong Kong has recently become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC).
 AASHE is an association of over 800 colleges and universities around the world that are working to create a sustainable future. Through membership in AASHE, all members of CUHK may explore AASHE’s Resource Centre, which contains member-only resources including: other AASHE members’ policy and plans on campus sustainability, resources on sustainability-related curriculum and sustainability-related coursework, and case studies shared by students of AASHE’s member institutions. CUHK members also enjoy a discount for AASHE’s events.
All CUHK members can also access resources of two of AASHE’s sister organizations, Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) and the United Kingdom's Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC).
To create an account, access the registration page and register using your campus email address ending with ‘cuhk.edu.hk’
As a member of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, CUHK members also receive discounted prices for events and trainings hosted by HKGBC, and other HKGBC publications and research. | |
The Shiu-Ying Hu Herbarium, established by the late Prof. Hu Shiu-ying, Honorary Professor of Chinese Medicine and Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the School of Life Sciences, was opened on 22 May. The herbarium houses a collection of about 38,000 plant specimens, the widest range of plant specimens in Hong Kong, mostly collected and archived by Professor Hu. It is now situated in the Science Centre of the University, promoting various research, education and social service programmes including but not limited to collection and preservation of protected native flora, research on authentication of economic and medicinal plants, as well as organization of various courses, public lectures and volunteer programmes to promote botanical research and knowledge transfer to the community. Press release
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New Green Souvenirs Available at the CUHK Souvenir Shop
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Food Angel’s Bread Redistribution Program Seeking CUHK Volunteers
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CPSO has released two unique CUHK-themed green souvenirs:
• Folder made of 100% recycled plastic
• Coffee cup made of bamboo fibre
The souvenirs are popular and can be purchased at the John Fulton Centre souvenir counter and CUSU Welfare Counter in Benjamin Franklin Centre. We encourage event planners to explore fair trade/eco-friendly options when purchasing souvenirs for speakers, guests, etc. For more ideas, please refer to the Guidelines for Sustainable Event Planning and Management.
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The NGO Food Angel, which distributes food surplus to people in need, is seeking a large number of volunteers to help pick up and redistribute unsold bakery products in the same district. If you would like to know more about this project, please refer to Programme details or contact Astor Wong or Da Luk of Food Angel directly (Tel: 2801-5333, email: astor@bofoundation.org.hk/ daluk@bofoundation.org.hk). |
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‘Green Hong Kong Photo Contest 2013’
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Used Furniture
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The ‘Green Hong Kong Photo Contest 2013’ organized by Chinachem Group will accept submissions of photos from 20 May - 5 July 2013. Details
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Office Of Student Affairs ITSC mass mail 20130510_02
Personnel Office ITSC mass mail 20130517_28 |
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1 Jun - 31 Aug 2013 |
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1 Jun - 2 Jun 2013 |
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The Power Smart Energy Saving Contest 2013 by Friends of the Earth
Participants must achieve an overall reduction of at least 2% in electricity consumption during the contest period from 1st June 2013 to 31st August 2013 as compared to the same period in 2012. Details | |
Bird Watching Events by Hong Kong Bird Watching Society
Details |
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3 Jun - 5 Jun 2013
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5 Jun 2013 |
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World Environment Week
This event organized by Ecovision Asia will feature a series of community events including talks, performances, parties as well as screening of the film ‘TRASHED’ to celebrate the UN's World Environment Day and World Oceans Day. Details
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Hong Kong Green Day (HKGD)
Support Hong Kong Green Day by wearing green on 5 June 2013 and taking a moment to fill in the HKGD survey. For the month of June, various shops and restaurants will support this event by providing unique offers to encourage people to "go green" (e.g. say no to disposable cutlery and plastic bags, etc.). There will also be a “Rethink” Photo Competition open to the general public as well as primary and secondary schools. More about Hong Kong Green Day |
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5 Jun 2013
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8 Jun 2013 |
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World Environment Day
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World Ocean Day
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14 Jun - 15 Jun 2013
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17 Jun 2013 |
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AIESEC ‘Hong Kong Youth to Sustainability Summit 2013’
Please check Sustainable News on Campus for more details. | |
World Day to Combat Desertification
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Jul & Oct 2013 (various dates)
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Rice planting and harvesting workshops
Organized by Produce Green Foundation Details | |
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This e-news flash is produced by the Campus Planning and Sustainability Office. For enquiries, to contribute information or to unsubscribe, please email GO@cuhk.edu.hk. Sharing of green events, stories about green practices and green tips are welcome! Please provide your contact information in the email, in case we need to get in touch with you for more details.
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Green Matters would like to thank the following people or offices for sharing information:
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Offices and individuals that participated in the sharing session and videos of Green Office Programme (GO!) Phase 2 Launch Ceremony
Food Angel
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