Green Monday (organization)
 | |
| social enterprise | |
| Founded | Hong Kong（2012） |
| Founder | David Yeung、Francis Ngai |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
| Slogan | Baby steps to go green; Make change happen, make green happen, let’s Green Monday. |
| Website | http://www.greenmonday.org.hk/ |
Green Monday is a social enterprise and movement that aims to tackle climate change and ensure food security through re-engineering how people think about food and changing their diet behavior. It is selected by FAST COMPANY magazine to be among China's Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of Year 2014.
Green Monday cites references from the United Nations that livestock industry and factory farming are the number one contributor of the world's carbon footprint. Meat production also consumes a disproportionate amount of water and land resources, which directly jeopardizes food security and environmental sustainability.
Green Monday encourages people to make so called "Baby Steps to Go Green", starting with going green every Monday to become flexitarians first, rather than committing to become full time vegetarians or vegans overnight.
Green Monday emphasizes collective impact, maintaining that if every American goes green every Monday for one year, they can cut 68 million tons of carbon, equivalent to what 2.9 billion trees absorb.
Green Monday actively collaborates with corporations, restaurants, caterers, hotels, schools etc. to make green options more readily available to consumers in the market.
Although Green Monday is often compared with another movement Meatless Monday, Green Monday insists that they simply want to create more plant-based options in the market and advise against removing conventional meat options.
As of 2014, results of a survey by market research company Ipsos showed that 1.6 million Hong Kong people, or 23% of the city's total population, embrace "Green Monday" - an increase of 18% from 2012,[1] and over 1,000 restaurants in Hong Kong are offering Green Monday menus.
School programs
Green Monday's School Program has been sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Charitable Foundation.[2] As of 2014, More than 800 schools with about 600,000 students from kindergarten to university in Hong Kong pledged to observe "Green Monday".[1] From November 2012 to June 2013, the average vegetarian meal order rate increased from 4% to 42%.
Major universities in Hong Kong, including the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong University have also joined the Green Monday School Program.
Outside Hong Kong, Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis and Tsinghua University have launched Green Monday on their campuses.
Hong Kong International Airport
"Go Green Monday @ HKIA" is a collaboration between the Hong Kong International Airport and Green Monday to promote the Green Monday idea to the city's dwellers and tourists, as well as to show support for the World Food Day. 57 F&B partners as well as airport lounges have pledged to offer a vegetarian menu option every Monday, some even on a daily basis.
Celebrities Vivian Chow and Leo Ku are the International Ambassadors for this campaign.
The latest initiative of this collaboration is the new food blog “Green Foodie at HKIA", which serves as a useful tool for travelers looking for vegetarian dining options at HKIA.
Green LUCK Banquet
Green LUCK Banquet is a Green Monday initiative that promotes healthy and green banqueting with three simple elements – no waste, no shark fin and at least one vegetarian course. Under the "No Waste" arm, Green Monday forms a partnership with food rescue organizations and caterers to collect excess food from banquets in a safe and hygienic manner then redistribute to people in need.
International recognition and growth
Green Monday started to grow beyond Hong Kong in 2014. Events that marked their international recognition and growth include:
- The University of Columbia became the first university in the US to launch Green Monday on their campus.[3]
- Fast Company (magazine) named Green Monday among China's Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of Year 2014.[4]
- The US Consulate of Hong Kong, the American Humane Society and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong became Green Monday's partners.[1]
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "'Green Monday' backed by 1.6m fans". Chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ↑ "Bank of China (Hong Kong) Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Bochk.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ↑ "Green Monday at Columbia University!". YouTube. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ↑ "快公司中文网". Fastcompany.cn. Retrieved 5 January 2015.