Urban youth prefer low carbon life

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Environmentalists in major cities like Beijing are calling for a new way of life, the low carbon life. Urban young people, who are pursuing this life style, are gradually making a group -- the low carbon group.

Yu Ling works at Beijing Baiwangshan Forestry Park. In December 2007, she purchased a piece of land for 1200 yuan. Trees on this land can absorb 6.72 tons of carbon dioxide in a year, equal to the emissions of a small car. Yu Ling is the first person in Beijing to purchase carbon emissions.

Yu Ling said, "I myself drive a car. I feel the environment is becoming worse and worse. By chance,I learned about carbon dioxide emissions. So I bought this piece of land in the woods. Its absorption of carbon dioxide can counteract the emissions of my car."

Since then, Yu Ling has paid more attention to carbon emission in her daily life. She said turning off the air conditioner for one day means 8 kilograms less carbon emission. But a car can emits 270 kilogram carbon dioxide for every 100 liter gas it consumes. So you need to plant 3 trees to absorb that amount.

Like Yu Ling, more and more people are pursuing a low carbon life. Currently, netizens are discussing ways of reducing emissions such using their cars less, climbing stairs and turning off computers when not using them. They even list carbon emission in their daily activities.

Yu Ling said, "The environment is closely related to every person. With my efforts, I want to tell people around me that every one should pay more attention to the environment and take part in environmental protection. That can make our life much better."

Earlier, the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange announced the launch of a transaction system for carbon emission reduction under the theme of "Green World Expo". And during next year's World Expo, people can purchase their own carbon emissions through this system.