Listening to citizen experts

While grassroots NGOs continue to confront polluting plants in the countryside, some educated elites are also attempting to use their expertise to push the environmental protection message in the cities.

Tian Guirong tags bottles containing samples she and her team collect from different water sources around the rural areas in Henan province.[China Daily]

Amid repeated protests over the construction of incinerators in metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, a team of volunteers in the capital's Aobei residential community has been campaigning for the central government to adopt its policy proposal on garbage treatment since last November.

The 25,000-word proposal, the first of its kind from Chinese citizens, followed months of research, which included analyses of scientific studies, interviews with environmental experts and media professionals, and public consultations. The draft was revised three times before it was sent to the authorities.

Although it is still unknown whether their advice will be accepted, experts say their actions have offered an alternative for the public to take part in the policymaking process.

"Our society has entered an era when the public pursues knowledge about environmental protection consciously," said Feng Yongfeng, one of the founders of Green Beagle, a Beijing-based NGO that aims to advocate popular science among the public. "Like Aobei group, we are likely to see more citizen experts and journalists find out more about the environment we're living in."

The public is no longer satisfied with easy steps, such as turning off lights in empty rooms or not using plastic bags, he said. "They want to know how their life is impacted by potential pollutions."

One "citizen expert" is Cheng Jing, a 39-year-old electronic engineer in Beijing who has become an unofficial authority on electrical and magnetic radiation.

He tested radiation levels at several spots in his community last year as both he and his neighbors feared they were being exposed to dangerous radiation from a nearby cellphone transmission tower and power line. Using a surveymeter bought on taobao.com, a popular online shopping website, the result was assuring: the levels of radiation were far below the safety guidelines.

"The result may not be 100 percent accurate because I'm not using precision equipment but it still can provide reliable references for our purpose," said Cheng.

Last year, Cheng was invited by a dozen residential communities to carry out similar tests. Some citizens even have home appliances like microwave ovens and LCD televisions tested, he said.