It is high time for Hong Kong to implement the long-overdue waste charging plan, and that we overhaul our lifestyle to counteract environmental degradation.

A waste-charging plan was introduced to the Legislative Council in 2018, four years after local green parties proposed it. However, discussion about the bill in LegCo was postponed due to the anti-government protests last year and the coronavirus outbreak this year. The bill remains a loose end.

The “pay as you throw” plan is about a levy of 11 Hong Kong cents (1.4 US cents) per liter for designated garbage bags, and HK$11 for larger garbage. This charging plan is meant to apply to most residential buildings, village houses, street-level shops, and institutional premises, which account for 80 percent of the daily municipal solid waste (MSW) disposed of at landfills.

Hong Kong is on the giving end of waste, but also on the receiving end. Our city is inundated with a monstrous volume of exported industrial waste from Southeast Asia for good measure. There was about 1,380 metric tons of industrial trash per day from Southeast Asia in 2018, up 49 percent since 2016.

Our city has set an aggressive goal, which is to cut the MSW disposal to less than 800 grams per individual by 2022. This seems to be an elusive holy grail if we look at the current figure — 1.53 kg per resident per day. It had been the talk of the town that the landfills in the city would be overwhelmed by the end of 2020. While the dumping grounds continue to properly handle the influx of MSW, they are bound to bulge at the seams sooner or later if no immediate long-term actions are taken.

It’s not that the government has done nothing. The Environmental Protection Department has been pushing the expansion project of three key disposal sites, which altogether process over 5 million tons of waste each year. But the construction is in progress and won’t help to relieve the waste overload anytime soon. We need more long-term and sustainable answers, which could promise immediate and far-reaching benefits to the environment. An overhaul of our lifestyle may well be the way to go.

The 50-HK-cent charge on plastic shopping bags that has been around in the city has proved effective. The extra fee, although insignificant in value, does make consumers abstain from requesting a plastic bag automatically as they did in the past. Many shoppers now whip out their own reusable bags, and some, like me, bring and use the same durable plastic bag. Nevertheless, recent months have seen a spike of up to 60 percent in takeout orders since residents reduced their dining out due to the coronavirus. As a result, piles of plastic cutlery and container waste have ended up in the already overflowing landfills. Now that we have successfully cut back on plastic bags, why can’t we possibly do the same to single-use cutlery and containers? It involves nothing but a habit alteration — use our own lunchbox and stainless steel fork and spoon, which is a cinch for everyone.

A shift in diet is also the least everyone can do for the environment. Hong Kong is a carnivorous city, consuming a per capita 664 grams of meat per day, equivalent to two pieces of 10-ounce (283.5-gram) steak, leaving a notoriously high carbon footprint. Swapping meat for plant-based alternatives, even one day per week, could help diminish the city’s craving for meat.

Sometimes it just takes a strategic way of information transmission to inform people of sensible environmental choices. We are creatures anticipating instant rewards. So more information about the tangible and quantifiable benefits of one’s green choices would prompt one to act. For example, a sign saying “If everyone uses his/her own food container for takeaways, we’ll see a 50 percent reduction in plastic waste disposal globally” would motivate more people to get in on the move. Environmental information, when presented in a catchy way that attracts attention and sticks in one’s memory, or delivered at a time and place close to the relevant choices, will also spur individuals’ green decision-making, research suggests.

A lifestyle revamp is unnecessarily dramatic. Each individual’s small bit of change will contribute to a big difference. 

The author is a Hong Kong-based journalist.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.