So, I just posted an article that I wrote for Chengdoo magazine after attending a two day conference in Chengdu about "Chinese Green Cities". The local NGO community was lured by promises to

• Discuss environmental, wildlife, & nature protection strategies

• Devise a plan to promote harmony between humans and nature

• Mobilize all walks of society to participate in greening China

• Discuss successful models & experiences in environmental and wildlife protection

and equally, if not more important that All speeches will be translated into English.

Well, after counting 78 chandeliers in the grand ballroom, studying all of the characters on the stage backdrop, and feeling like suckers in the "foreign expert" made for TV row, my friend Ashley and I conspired to actually discuss and act on the four points above: (in English with translation)

Join us for the launch of the
Chengdu Organic Market at The Bookworm

Introduction
Farmers markets are known for bringing healthy and fresh produce and products from the countryside into the city and fostering direct relationships between people and farmers. Although Chengdu has excellent access to fresh local produce in fruit and vegetable stands and on the streets, it is very difficult, if not impossible to find environmentally friendly or organic produce. The general dearth of organic produce can be attributed to a number of barriers which include the small perceived willingness to pay for value-added produce, mistrust/false labeling, lack of infrastructure, and lack of understanding on the part of both producers and consumers regarding the logistics and importance of organic production.

Fortunately, there are many NGOs and entrepreneurs in Chengdu working to grow community supported agriculture (CSA) models to bring organic produce directly to the consumer. CSA is a socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution that allows small scale farmers to reduce potential food loses and financial risks of producing organic. This model also provides an avenue to build trust between producers and consumers, resolving the issue of false labeling, especially false organic or “green” labeling that is so common in China.
We believe that creating an organic farmers market in Chengdu provides an avenue for expanding existing CSA projects in Chengdu while demonstrating the demand for organic produce and willingness to pay the added costs of production. This will in turn support the expansion of organic production to a greater number of farmers, improve the local soil and water quality by reducing pesticide and fertilizer use, and support a growing movement towards sustainable and “green” lifestyles in Chengdu. Already, many local NGOs are engaged in projects that support organic production and environmental lifestyles. The Chengdu Organic Farmers Market could provide a direct and constant consumer link to support and expand these activities.

The market will not be limited to the sale of organic produce; it will also provide a forum for educational activities such as urban composting, windowsill gardening, pet care and neutering, kids activities, etc. This will attract more diverse participation, and provide a platform for the greater local environmental community to gather.

Details:
First Chengdu Organic Market will be held
Saturday June 23rd from 11-3pm
outside The Bookworm

Call for Contributions:
The Chengdu Organic Market is looking for contributors who are interested in hosting tables for: organic produce, educational activities and demonstrations. Financial donations, and any other contributions are also welcome of course.

For more information, please contact Kat Cooley and Ashley Murray at ChengduOrganicMarket@gmail.com

This is an article I just wrote for Chengdoo Magazine, a slightly more formal 'zine' for the hipster ex-pats in my neighborhood.

Greening the Grey.

May 9th and 10th marked the 4th Forum on Chinese Green Cities hosted by the Chengdu municipal government, and attended by government officials from many Chinese provinces, international forestry academics, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and NGO representatives from Chengdu and abroad. The conference was designed to celebrate China’s “greenest” cities while addressing issues of sustainable development and the importance of urban green spaces. It also included an afternoon showcase of Chengdu’s many green spaces…although they may have appeared a bit more gray than expected on that ironically smoggy afternoon.

Since arriving in China, the word green has become synonymous with a vague sense of some “environmentally friendly” qualities. There are “green foods” in the supermarket, “green buildings”, “green lifestyles”, the clothing brand, “Nature” whose bright green sign clashes with almost everything inside, and now “green cities” popping up everywhere. But what exactly does “green” mean? In relation to green cities for example, are we literally talking about the number of leafy plants in side the second ring road?

Greenery is obviously important. Green areas and wildlife have measurable positive impacts not only on aesthetics, but also on local air, water, and environmental quality, as well as mental health. The right mix of species in an urban environment will serve multiple functions. Removing carbon from the atmosphere, emitting volatile organic compounds that reduce the formation of dangerous ozone and carbon monoxide, helping to control runoff, and stabilizing microclimates are just a few of their positive environmental effects. At the conference, one speaker from the University of Copenhagen also pointed out that in Denmark, proximity to green spaces is directly correlated to level of fitness, and that recovery of hospital patients with a view of greenery is significantly faster that recovery of those who view a brick. It’s these kinds of findings that have encouraged many Chinese cities to promote more proactive urban and rural tree-planting initiatives.

But “green” has to go deeper and address sustainability in a more holistic sense… or all the trees we plant will shrivel and die in a bone-dry city full of smog and acid rain. When we label something “green”, we also need to consider every kind of input and waste involved in its creation and day to day use. Clean, renewable, and efficient energy supply, effective and sustainable use of resources, comprehensive waste management, and implementation of the “3 Rs” reduce, reuse, and recycle are all concepts must go hand in hand with a “green” label. Where “green cities” are concerned, these concepts are beginning to prevail, with China host to the foremost global example of sustainable urban planning. Right off the Chinese mainland on Chongming island, where the world’s first sustainable “eco-city” is in its first phase of development. ARUP, a British consulting firm, and the Shanghai Industrial Investment Company (SIIC) are masterplanning the city, which, by 2010, will house 500,000 people, and provide the opportunity for people to lead an integrated and truly sustainable life. The island city will use recycled water, cogeneration and biomass energy sources, while remaining “as carbon neutral as possible”. Ecological sensitivity is a priority as the island that is mostly used for agricultural activity and is adjacent to a critical wetland, but sustainability has also been expanded to include social, cultural, and economic frameworks. It’s this type of comprehensive and innovative thinking that we should expect from everything green.

So, do not accept the nebulously green. When a product or event claims, “green!” require specifics: the basic whats, whys, and hows, or it’s a wash. It’s your role as consumers and as dwellers of whichever place you go to keep a critical eye on green, (and any other vague adjectives for that matter). If there is no one verifying that the eggs really are free range, organic, or bringing you and your friends to the farm in the back of the hybrid pick-up, you should assume that the chickens dyed their feathers last weekend at a party cause it’s so totally hip to be green right now. Or better, be conscious of the fact that although talk is perhaps the first step towards decisive commitments, right now there’s still a lot of grey in our greens.