China promotes low carbon lifestyle

It will take much more than a hotel to have much impact on carbon dioxide emission reduction in China. And many cities are doing their part to raise awareness of the need to save energy and cut pollution before it's too late.

In order to promote a low carbon lifestyle, Nanjing has issued the country's first environmentally friendly subway ticket. The move aims to encourage more local residents to use public transport. All 1,000 tickets were sold out on the first day of the campaign.

Nanjing student said "What I like about the ticket is not the value, but its green concept."

Nanjing resident said "We should support the campaign, and reduce the number of private cars running on roads. So we can have bluer skies and cleaner air."

The ticket itself is made of recycled paper, and was jointly designed with the World Wildlife Fund. The ticket will also go on show at the Copenhagen World Climate Conference this week.

Meanwhile, some cities have even launched environmental campaigns at their auto exhibitions.

Su Yi, Environmental Volunteer said "It's winter. So cars should warm up their engines before acceleration to reduce gas consumption."

Auto shows are also seeing volunteers organizing green quizzes. Participants with the right answers will be rewarded with environmental pencils.

Su Yi said "The pencil is made of old newspaper. There is a great deal of stuff around that can be recycled for other purposes."

Figures from the World Wildlife Fund show that saving one kilowatthour of electricity can reduce 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide emissions.

Analysts say that low carbon lifestyles are not new to China because the country has been working for years to boost environmental protection. And conserving resources is a long-standing tradition for most Chinese people.