Environmentalism in China:
Waking the Green Tiger
Enhanced English for Interpreters
Fujian Normal University
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
Video: R-E-C-Y-C-L-E
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Compost
Homework Review
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
(an image can communicate complex ideas more easily than
words)
Try to describe TWO of the photos by Canadian photographer,
Ed Burtynsky, as fully as possible.
Think about the language you would use to describe:
(1) Objects and people, (2) actions (what is currently happening
and what is going to happen), (3) the atmosphere or
environment
As the picture you described is displayed, in 2 minutes, share
your interpretation with a group of classmates.
Video: Interpretation Exercise
The Hour: Ed Burtynsky
The photographer says,
“There is no simple right or wrong. It needs a whole new way of
thinking.”
“ An environmentalist will look at it one way, an industrialist will
look at it another way….There’s these readings that people can
enter into it (the photo) and that there are multiple readings. It’s
not necessarily just to be read one way.”
What are your opinions, ideas or thoughts about these photos?
How do you interpret these photos?
Brainstorm
In 2 minutes,
Name as many different types of pollution as
you can think of
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
• air pollution
Types of Pollution
• water pollution
• litter/solid waste pollution
• noise pollution
Small Group Discussion
In groups of 4, answer the following questions and be
prepared to present responses.
•Give examples of the type of pollution assigned to you.
•What is your experience with this type of pollution in your
home town?
Types of Pollution
• air pollution (car exhaust, coal dust, sand, smoking, carbon
emissions)
• water pollution (industrial waste, sewage, acid rain)
• litter/solid waste pollution (plastic bags, styrofoam boxes,
disposable chopsticks, landfill)
• noise pollution (traffic, construction)
• greenhouse effect/global warming (温室效应, 全球变暖)
What is sustainability?
“the capacity and ability to support, maintain or endure”
• "In every
deliberation, we
must consider the
impact on the
seventh
generation... ‘What
about the seventh
generation? Where
are you taking
them? What will
they have?’”
from the Great Law of the
Iroquois Confederacy
What is a sustainable society?
A sustainable society is one which:
• can provide for and manage its
population and economy now, while
maintaining an environment that will
be healthy for future generations.
A sustainable society must…
• provide all of its people with enough
good food and shelter, clean water
and air.
Shanghai skyline
A sustainable society must…
• meet the needs of its people without
destroying the earth’s Natural Capital.
Wu Yi
Mountains
Natural?
Natural Capital?
Capital?
Autumn Maple Trees,
Toronto
Summer Banyan Trees,
Fuzhou
Natural Capital is…
• the resources and ecological services
provided by the earth that support and
sustain the earth’s life and economies
(from Environmental Science: Working with the Earth, G. Tyler
Miller Jr., 2004)
Natural Capital Resources
• Resources are anything obtained from
the environment to meet plant, animal
and human needs.
• Primary resources are: air, water, soil,
energy and minerals.
Resources: Perpetual and
Renewable
• Perpetual: renewed
continuously on a
human scale;
• Example: solar
energy, wind
Changjiang Ao Windfarm,
Pingtan
Resources: Perpetual and
Renewable
• Renewable: can be
replenished fairly
quickly on a human
scale;
• Examples: forests,
fresh water, air, soil
Christmas tree farm
Resources: Non-renewable
• Non-renewable: exist in essentially
fixed quantities on the earth;
• Examples: fossil fuels, metals such as
iron and copper
Open pit mine, Australia
Sustainable living
• Humans are the only species on earth
to deplete and waste natural capital (no
such thing as “waste” in nature!)
• Sustainable living does not use nonrenewable resources.
• Sustainable living uses renewable
resources only at the rate at which they
can be replaced.
Tema, Ghana
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
The Man Who Planted Trees:
By: Jean Giono
Film by: Frederic Back
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
Use “sustainable” or
“sustainability” in a sentence
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
China Environmental Protection Foundation
http://www.cepf.org.cn
曲 格平 (Qu GePing, Former Environment Protection
Minister of China)
Tiger Leaping Gorge:
“Waking the Green Tiger”
Small Group Discussion
Answer the following questions in groups of 4:
1.Why is the dam being built?
2.What kind of energy resources is China trying
to use?
3.What considerations should we have before
creating a sustainable source of energy?
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
Canada’s Energy
Sources 2010
China’s Energy
Sources 2008
FNU Language Enhancement 2012-2013
Chinese Environmental Organizations
Global Village Beijing: http://www.gvbchina.org.cn/
• Green Earth Volunteers: http://eng.greensos.cn
Green Watershed: http://www.greenwatershed.org/
THE DIRECTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS & ENVIRONMENTAL
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN CHINA
http://earthdirectory.net/china
Homework:
• Download and read the China Daily article:
"Should Chinese people celebrate
Christmas?“
• a) Why do you think Chinese celebrate
Christmas? or (b) Do you think Chinese
should celebrate Christmas?