A youth-led environmental protection competition unveiled the top winners in Beijing on June 5, the World Environment Day.

Representatives of the top winners of Green Life Innovator – Household Paper Green Innovation Competition receive honors in Beijing, June 5, 2023. [Photo by Shao Ran]

The competition, Green Life Innovator – Household Paper Green Innovation Competition, was jointly launched by the China Environmental Protection Foundation (CEPF) and Kimberly-Clark (China) Co., Ltd., a global leader in the personal care and hygiene industry, in March last year. The initiative aimed to implement the national ecological development strategy, adhere to the principles of sustainable development, and encourage environmental protection actions among individual citizens, especially young people.

The competition received 701 short videos showcasing creative ideas related to paper use and environmentally friendly packaging designs from 592 students representing 159 universities nationwide. Financial support was provided to transform the best ideas into tangible results.

Among the top were two creative designs from a team at the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication (BIGC). Their innovations included a printable, flexible luminous display box and environmentally friendly visual detection technology for packages.

Team from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication briefing their creative designs in Beijing, June 5, 2023. [photo by Shao Ran]

Liu Yibin, a member of the team and a postgraduate student at BIGC, said, "Our products can provide an environmentally friendly, lightweight and low-cost display solution for the current paper/plastic packaging industry, providing a new interactive experience for packaging."

In his address at the conference, Fang Zhi, deputy secretary-general of the CEPF, said, "We are excited to see more and more leading companies like Kimberly-Clark empower every consumer, especiallyyoung people, to become pivotal players in addressing climate change, ecological concerns and other challenges through green products and marketing innovation."

The activity received wide attention from society. Through the competition, the students promoted green innovation by using their knowledge and raising publicawareness of sustainable development.

Zhan Hui, a representative of Kimberly-Clark (China), said that as a global leader in health, hygiene and personal care, Kimberly-Clark is committed to protecting Earth's ecological environment while providing consumers with daily necessities. She pointed out that the company has been making unswerving efforts to minimize its "environmental footprint" in key areas most relevant to its business: climate, forests, plastics and water.

"Promoting sustainable development requires the participation of everyone, and encouraging young people to adopt an environmentally friendly and sustainable understanding of consumption is a top priority," said Zhan. "We are delighted to empower young people to become changemakers in tackling the global challenges of sustainability. We hope to find more imaginative and creative green solutions and provide more inspiration for a better life and world."

On June 5, representatives of the winning projects had the opportunity to visit the former site of the Mathematics Department at Peking University in Dongchengdistrict, Beijing, which serves as a patriotism education base. This visit aimed to deepen their understanding of the country's development trajectory, shifting focus from rapid economic growth to sustainable, high-quality development.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)