Above: Ouyang Xiangping (R) gives a lesson about environmental protection. [cnr.cn] Below: Ouyang Xiangping attends an event to promote environmental protection. [Women of China/Fan Wenjun]

Many Chinese families across the country are increasingly dedicated to promoting a low-carbon lifestyle as environmentally-friendly concepts gain ground due to popular publicity activities such as National Low-carbon Day, which was observed on July 2 this year. 

One of the role models, Ouyang Xiangping's family from Beijing, built a micro-ecosystem through breeding rabbits, earthworms and fish, allowing household food waste to be decomposed and recycled to achieve zero emissions; they also transformed water pipes and switches to save energy. 

At the same time, the service life of many daily supplies was extended — old clothes were changed into hats, waste baths were transformed to raise fish and lotus flowers, and used tires were made into flowerpots.

Qin Yufeng's family has organized more than 100 environmental protection activities in 349 villages of Zhangjiajie City, Central China's Hunan Province, in the past 10 years, including cleaning the streets, visiting sewage treatment works and planting trees.

From November 2018, the couple began to patrol the river in the urban area every day to monitor water pollution. 

Another couple, Wu Xida and Yu Xiaojing, both volunteers in Fuzhou City, Southeast China's Fujian Province, knew and fell in love with each other because of their common interest in public activities on environmental protection. 

They often publicized green commuter, and on weekends held activities of ranching and population enhancement of aquatic species. Meanwhile, they published over 800 articles on environmental protection in national, provincial, and municipal-level media.

As the initiator of the Fuzhou Women Volunteers Association, Yu noted that garbage sorting depends on its being done by the majority of families, in which the women tend to play a vital role. 

In addition, the couple encouraged their daughter Wu Yueling to join them. "She enjoyed joining the activities very much and made many new friends," added Yu.

The last representative, Wang Lei's family from Southwest China's Guizhou Province, turned waste materials into treasure while building a new cement house, making full use of old bricks, tiles and wood to construct the courtyard door and debris room.

Wang insisted on advocating the concept of "using old and local materials, saving energy and protecting the environment" after graduating from the major of environmental art design.

His wife He Qun is passionate about making handicrafts that help reduce pollution of the environment. That is her way of getting along with nature.

They led more than 700 households in the village to improve the living environment. Each family maintains a tidy toilet and changes messy conditions for livestock. Trees and flowers surrounding the houses have further formed a new rural fashion for which everybody is credited.

(Women of China)