Starting tomorrow is GreenFest at Boston City Hall Plaza, running from August 19-21. Some key take aways from the website are simple: Drink tap water and use reusable containers, recycle, compost, and bike.

Boston GreenFest celebrates the many ways we can create a better world by greening our lives and our communities.

Among speakers, performers, and eco-fashion shows, there’s a one gallon challenge that asks teams to build vehicles that travel 110 miles from Northampton, MA to Boston on only one gallon of gas; the vehicles will be on display upon their arrival to the festival site:

We are looking for vehicles that are light weight, have good aerodynamics, and use very efficient propulsion systems to stretch the energy which fuels them, while at the same time allowing passengers the safety and comfort we insist on.

Sounds like a great event to get people active, conscious, and involved with changing their everyday habits for a greener life. Hope to see you there!

It’s funny. According to Wikipedia, in the past few years, “Beijing has added 3,800 natural gas buses, the largest fleet in the world. 20% of the Olympic venues’ electricity comes from renewable energy sources. The city has also planted hundreds of thousands of trees and increased green space in an effort to make the city more livable.” But when I moved into my new apartment back in July and was instructed about trash removal, there was no recycling available. I asked the agent about it, and even mentioned it to my roommate (a local Chinese), both were not really conscious of the idea of recycling: “just throw it in the trash.” In public spaces there are recycling bins, but they look JUST like the trash bin, so I’m sure the two containers are not differentiated when one throws away trash. But what’s more interesting, is that recycling is something that the Chinese have done… forever…? We see bike peddlers with their stacks and stacks of styrofoam, or rubber tires and metal scraps; is recycling only for those who need to perform manual labor to make a living? What about the everyday people that make up so much of the population and could be contributing to such a huge cause? Mind boggling…

明天开始波士顿绿节。从明天八月十九号到二十一号波士顿庆祝我们怎么可以建设一个更美好的生活和世界。去听讲座和音乐，看新时尚。

我不太明白，为什么北京能有怎么多‘绿’公园或者用天然气的公共汽车，但没有回收在家里。明不明白？我搬家的时候问我的同屋和我们的代理人“这里有没有回收”？但他们几说“在垃圾就是一样”。我真不满意。为什么有很多工作人骑自行车收金属，橡胶或者发泡胶，但在之自家里不能回收？我不明白。