For more 1.3 billion Chinese, Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year, usually offers an irresistible excuse to revel, dine, travel and exchange gifts, with the belief that a prosperous beginning marks happiness for a whole year.
But for those who become increasingly conscious of environmental protection, following such traditions may bring concerns that excessive revelry might not be green, or environmental friendly, enough.
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Cleaners are busy working at the Changdian Temple Fair in Beijing, January 27, 2009.
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An environment-related educational campaign in China has launched an action called "Green Spring Festival," urging the public to save energy, reduce pollution, and prevent wasting during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, the country's most important festival.
Its Web site, the 20 Ways to 20% (www.20to20.org) offers 20 tips to holiday-goers on energy saving, such as spending more time with family members and friends in stead of watching TV, avoiding throwaway wooden chopsticks in restaurants, and using less fireworks and firecrackers.
The public is also encouraged not to purchase gifts with excessive packaging, and to be environmentally savvy during traveling by turning off lights in hotel rooms and re-using bath towels and bedsheets.
"Spring Festival is a joyful time for family reunions, but it's also a peak period of energy consumption because of frequent celebrations, big food and gift purchases, and more trips," said Cai Tao, a media officer with the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF's) China office.
WWF launched the "20 Ways to 20%" campaign in China two years ago to promote public awareness of and engagement in energy conservation.
China hopes to lower its energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent by 2010. "But this goal can not be achieved easily," said Cai.
"This means that saving energy in everyday living will be vital to reaching China's energy efficiency goal," he said. "At the beginning of 2009, we should start from a low-carbon holiday."
Almost 4,300 people across the country have signed up on www.20to20.org to demonstrate their support to "low-carbon" Spring Festival since the activity was launched 20 days ago.
"WWF hopes about 20,000 people will be involved in the campaign by the end of February," Cai told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
A total of 20,000 postcards carrying energy-saving messages and made from recycled paper were sent to 100 colleges and universities in 12 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Wuhan, Chongqing and Nanchang, earlier this month.
"We hope young students to bring these messages to their family members and friends when they go home to celebrate the Spring Festival. Young people can be very influential if they become more environmentally conscious," Cai said.
