In Hong Kong, tonnes of textiles (clothing, towels, bedding, etc.) are thrown away every year.  Some people in your community have suggested that more recycling/reuse programs would be needed to protect the environment.

Write a letter to your estate manager explaining why such programs are needed.  You should then suggest two new programs that could be introduced in your estate and explain how they can be carried out.
(write about 400 words)

Dear Estate Manager,

    I am writing to explain why we need a recycling or reuse program and I also want to suggest two new programs that can be promoted in our estate to you.

    To commence with, I would like to emphasize the need of such programs.  First, the shortage of landfills will be a fundamental factor to the issue.  Since the landfills are almost full, we need to dwindle the amount of textile waste like clothing, towels, bedding, etc.  Moreover, the earth is facing a great many of problems such as the climate change, greenhouse effect, global warming, etc.  What’s more, everyone has the responsibility to do something to protect the earth, or at least, to minimize the damage we make.  So, residents should learn to be more environmentally friendly and not be selfish and just buy whatever they want.  Additionally, it is important to spread the conciousness to the residents and let them know the seriousness of the issue.  Thereby, they might know that they should treasure resources instead of buying without thinking.

    No one could escape when our planet goes wrong.  Luckily, we can still do something to make the world a better place to live in.  The first program is second-hand goods exchange program.  We can set up a booth inside each building’s lobby so residents won’t think it is too troublesome to participate.  What’s more, they can put textiles they don’t use or want anymore in the booths and they can take what they think is useful for them back home.  For instance, children’s wear would be very popular.  Children grow very fast but their clothes do not.  When there is a way for us to give and take, the amount of textile waste can be reduced while some money saved.

    The second program is garment donation.  We can help to collect residents’ old garments like jackets, shirts, sweaters, etc.  So, it will be easier for us to send the garments to any charity organizations.  Similarly, there are many orpharages in China which will welcome such a gift.  We can spread love to the children and give them warmth.  Not only can we send garments back to China, but also the Salvation Army in Hong Kong.  As we all know, there are still people living under the provery line.  What might seem useless to us would be a treasure to some others.  Therefore, when we donate garments to them, they won’t have to wear theirs inside-out and then outside-in anymore.  We can also show our concern and love to the needy as well.  Furthermore, when residents realize how poor some others are, they will learn to cherish what they have instead of being materialistic.  And, they may reduce waste in other aspects of life.

    To conclude, we should not overlook the problems of textile waste and not only do the aforementioned programs help the environment, but also the needy from different parts of our soceity.  So, I hope we can all be heros of the planet earth.

Yours faithfully,

Zara Wong
5A (15)