Salina Khan Fuchigami, TheWayToGo
TheWayToGo is an environmental initiative dedicated to environmental issues and solutions through education and action. ‘Styrofoam-Free DB’ is a project that seeks to educate the residents, restaurants, and patrons of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island on the environmental and health benefits of going Styrofoam-free to minimise the pollution and hazard to humans and marine life caused by polystyrene foam.
To steer EPS waste away from landfills and waterways, a key objective is to encourage the implementation of non-food EPS packaging waste collection-for-recycling system; and to help restaurants to switch to sustainable, biodegradable take-out food packaging.
TheWayToGo is an environmental initiative founded by Salina Khan Fuchigami that serves as the leading media outlet dedicated to environmental issues and solutions spanning out from its origin in Hong Kong to the whole world through education and action.
Growing up on Hong Kong Island, Salina’s favourite childhood memories are filled with blue-sky days of hiking up hills, swimming at local beaches and diving off boats into the open ocean. Memories of her childhood are of nature and of an unspoiled environment that allowed for a kind of carefree freedom – one that she worries her toddler son and generations to come probably won’t enjoy, as pollution and other environmental issues take their toll. Saddened by this reality, Salina began opening her eyes to environmental issues and to finding solutions that paint a picture of the future as one of hope rather than one that is dark and catastrophic – to begin building a new future in fresh and positive ways, starting with herself, her home, her family – one step at a time.
This led to the creation of TheWayToGo in the summer of 2008, as a media to share facts, information, and ideas, and as a symbol of the path that heads in the right direction towards saving planet Earth for generations to come.
TheWayToGo was created because there is only one earth, an endless number of environmental issues to tackle, and an abundance of things that need to change. Changes that need to be made by people… governments, individuals, consumers, service providers, retailers, producers… people at every level. But, without knowledge of the facts surrounding environmental issues and how one could be contributing to them, there is little to be done in the right direction.
Awareness of environmental issues is the key to bringing about change. By providing information, raising awareness, encouraging community action, and introducing solutions, it is believed that a sensible and sustainable path towards saving the future can be paved one step at a time.
TheWayToGo was created to offer an all-encompassing platform for eco-information, tips, solutions, and product options for people at every level looking for information and ways to a more environmentally responsible approach to every day.
TheWayToGo regularly communicates with community members through its website, and at local eco-events and beach cleanups in the hopes of positively impacting the places where we live and work. This is done by building relationships, sharing a vision for increased environmental education, and promoting sustainable living in the community.
TheWayToGo embarks on a number of ‘Eco-Endeavours’ as it fulfils its aim of raising awareness to current environmental issues – acting locally but always thinking globally. The ‘Styrofoam-free DB’ campaign is one such project.
‘Styrofoam-Free DB’ is a project led by TheWayToGo and a coalition of local green groups, community members and business owners that strive to educate the residents, restaurants, and patrons of Discovery Bay on the environmental and health benefits of going Styrofoam free in order to minimize the consumption and pollution caused by polystyrene foam on our island.
To lead Discovery Bay to become ‘Styrofoam-free’, the following measures form a plan of action that is currently in effect:
- Helping to organise beach cleanups, and coordinating to collect EPS (expanded polystyrene foam) debris from the ocean and beaches, raising awareness on the issues of marine pollution caused by EPS at each event.
- Communicating and coordinating with a local green group ‘DB Green’ and its members, and ‘Friends of the Earth Hong Kong’ to raise awareness, gain support and knowledge.
- Raising awareness and educating people on the human health and environmental issues related to Styrofoam use through the website and local eco-events.
- Petitioning and collecting signatures of residents who support ‘Styrofoam-free DB’, to shift away from EPS use and improper disposal of it, and to prompt restaurants, retailers, and City Management to react.
- Discouraging the use of single-use EPS for food take-out containers through facts and information posted on TheWayToGo website and email newsletters.
- Communicating with restaurant outlets in Discovery Bay, encouraging a switch to biodegradable alternatives for take-out and delivery food packaging.
- Communicating and establishing contact with suppliers of sustainable, biodegradable food packaging, helping to connect them with the restaurants.
- Advising and assisting local City Management and local rubbish collection contractor on the implementation of a collection-for-recycling system for all non-food (recyclable) EPS waste.
Regular updates of the project are posted on TheWayToGo website. The website is updated on a monthly basis, posting new articles and ‘Green Guides’ to offer eco-information and tips that encourage and promote a greener lifestyle. TheWayToGo also sends out monthly email newsletters to subscribers.
