2-28 November, 2023 | Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change
**Online exhibition is available available now**
Organizer
Centre for Social Innovation Studies, HKIAPS, CUHK
Co-organizer
Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change
Sponsor
Environment and Conservation Fund
HKIAPS, CUHK
It takes hundreds of years for plastic bags to decompose while they fill up landfills and pollute the ocean, soil, and air. To tackle the problems, scientists are finding alternative materials to replace plastic and governments are implementing plastic bag levies. How can the fields of humanities and social sciences make intervention and promote plastic reduction?
The modern “values” of convenience overshadow plastic bag’s environmental costs. We believe that the implementation of charging schemes is not enough. It must go hand in hand with an effective recycling economy and persistent communication with different stakeholders. The Centre for Social Innovation Studies has been involved in plastic reduction initiatives since 2021. Funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund, CSIS launched the “Plastic Free Hong Kong: Plastic Reduction in Wet Market” Student Community Ambassador Training Scheme in 2023. During November 2023, “Plastic Reduction Academy: No Plastic Bags, Please!” exhibition was organized in the Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change to share the one-year journey and findings. Art installations made by our ambassadors were shown in the MOCC.
This project trained 26 university students and 250 secondary school students to be our student ambassadors. CSIS invited NGOs to share their advocacy and attempts on plastic reduction. Through the sharing from NGOs, students have acquired the knowledge of plastic reduction and different attempts made by local green groups. At the same time, they have brought their questions to the community for action research to find the answers. In March and April 2023, our student ambassadors spent two days counting the number of plastic bags. Based on the findings, we estimated that around 500,000 plastic bags are consumed daily in government-owned wet markets in Hong Kong. The number is bigger if one includes private wet markets and supermarkets. Our ambassadors also conducted interviews to understand the social and cultural factors that drive the use of plastic bags. These students later participated in community art workshops to transform their observations into art pieces. They also presented their creative works as gifts to vendors and marketgoers.
A total of 2,100 visitors attended the exhibition. In order to continue the achievements of the project, the online exhibition is now available on CSIS website.
Online Exhibition:
https://www.csis.cuhk.edu.hk/?p=2104
