|
The ecological demonstration base of Global Village in YanqingCounty, 70 kilometers from Beijing. |
|
There are many who pay attention to environmental protection, but Liao Xiaoyi is more cautious of the details. She is very good at perceiving waste in people’s way of life and changing people’s common consumption into effective environmental protection behavior. She always reminds us that economy can coexist harmoniously with comfortable life.” Such were the (translated) memorialized honors credited to Liao Xiaoyi, president of Global Village of Beijing, on the night of December 28, 2005 on the award ceremony of 2005 CCTV China Fiscal Year Figure, where she was conferred the Social Public Welfare Award.
Liao is also the first Chinese civilian to receive the Sophie Prize. Liao first initiated her nationwide energy-saving campaign to encourage people to adjust their air-conditioners to a temperature no lower than 26 degrees centigrade. Later, led by her, the Environmental Culture Center of Global Village of Beijing, in cooperation with eight non-governmental organizations, launched the “No Car Day” campaign in Beijing, urging the city’s drivers to leave their cars at home at least one day each month, and get to work by bus, subway or bike. Their purpose is to confront the worsening international energy crisis through sustainable consumption and green lifestyles. This year on June 5 of the World Environment Day, about 50,000 Beijing citizens took part in the “No Car Day” campaign.
Liao’s pro environment motivations originate from an accidental conversation. One day in 1990, when she served as deputy director of the research office of ChineseAcademy of Social Science, a friend studying ecological philosophy spoke with her about the crisis of human-caused environmental pollution. After her own studies, Liao was taken aback by the seriousness of the matter. She realized that water pollution, atmospheric pollution and many other negative effects brought on by accelerating industrialization has greatly degraded the natural ecological balance. She realized that especially for China, which is short in per capita resources, environmental protection is an especially vital matter.
|
Liao Xiaoyi promoting environmental protection at the local level.
|
|
She accompanied her spouse in his studies in the USA, and one year later she enrolled at North CarolinaStateUniversity to pursue her own advanced education. Every Sunday she participated in local environmental protection campaigns, no matter how busy she was otherwise. During her stay in the States, she interviewed more than 40 foreign women involved in the cause of environmental protection and at her own expense produced the documentary film Daughters of the Earth.
In 1995 she returned to China with the documentary in hand. The film was shown on the occasion of the Fourth World Conference on Women, and was highly praised by participants. Supported by varied institutions, Liao then established Global Village, the first non-governmental environmental protection organization in China.
Aided by financial backing from two Chinese Americans, she leased 200 hectares of land in a Beijing suburb to establish the ecological demonstration base of Global Village, which combines various functions of education, training and exchange. The inhabitants of the base promote a green lifestyle: saving energy, reducing pollutions, purchasing green consumer goods, classifying garbage, recycling, and more.
|
July 1998: Invited by former US president, Bill Clinton, Liao takes part in the Guilin Round Table Meeting. It was there that Clinton wrote words of appreciation for Global Village: “Thanks for your good work for our common home!” |
|
Over the past decade, Liao traveled throughout China to shoot films on environmental topics while delivering more than 100 lectures on environmental subjects in governmental offices, communities and schools. She also published more than 400,000 words in her papers and articles covering urgent environmental issues.
Each year Liao leads her Global Village in organizing environment related activities. The Global Village demonstration base receives numerous visitors each year. Her purpose is to educate people so they take into account sustained development of the environment as they satisfy their desire for a comfortable lifestyle.
Liao has no air-conditioner at home, only an electric fan. She has many basins to accumulate water for washing clothes and vegetables, and to flush the toilet and mop the floors. Meanwhile, for her travels she takes a train, instead of an airplane, if time permits.
For years, Liao has traveled to work by bus, subway or bicycle. However, due to her heavy work load, she does sometimes take the taxi. On this subject, she says, “We do not do everything we can to protect our environment.”
In reviewing environmental protection efforts in China in the past decade, Liao said, “People are getting more and more conscious of environmental protection. However, compared with the fast-expanding economy, development of environmental work is far from rapid.” Liao knows that the environmentally-friendly culture she promotes will require diligent and long-lasting effort.
