CRI听力:Public Urged to Take Real Action on Environmental Protection

"I think environment has everything to do with everyone. But I also think it's OK if I don't focus much attention on water pollution. I can afford purified water. But emissions pumped out in China do pollute the food we eat."

From PM 2.5 to the so-called APEC Blue, environmental issues have been a growing topic of discussion in China for the past few years.

China's central government has been working to strike a balance between protecting the environment and keeping the country's economy on-track.

But while the government is taking a proactive approach to environmental protection, a new survey suggests the same cannot be said for the average person on the street.

The survey, conducted by a private Chinese firm, now shows one-third of those asked use a vehicle at least once a week.

This is up from the roughly 8-percent who were asked the same question in the survey 5-years ago.

Professor Feng Yinchang with Nankai University suggests apathy, China's modernization and a lack of public education about environmental issues are the main reasons behind this.

"We need to change our lifestyles when confronted with the problems, such as lighting firecrackers and purchasing high-emission vehicles. In terms of the public, raising environmental protection awareness is not enough. The public's self-awareness of living a green lifestyle is relatively low. Education and publication should be lifted to promote modern lifestyles."

Even though the government has been moving to try to change people's habits through various initiatives, many say they feel it isn't going far enough.

One of the main contributors to China's pollution problems is vehicle emissions.

Numerous Chinese cities have brought in changes to try to promote the use of public transportation.

However, many of these same cities have also been increasing fees to use the systems.

Professor Feng Yinchang says better urban planning will be needed to make cities in China more environmentally-friendly.

"We always talk about how the automobiles are polluting the environment and air quality. But the problem is our city planning, city construction and its layout fail to create an ideal condition for people to love taking public transportations, riding bicycles or walking. The government still has a lot to do, such as creating an atmosphere in which the public would voluntarily contribute to environment governance and choose a green lifestyle."

New government statistics show only 16 of the 161 Chinese cities which have air quality monitoring met the national standards this past year.

Of the roughly 49-hundred points around the country which have groundwater testing, close to two-thirds have been deemed "poor" or "extremely poor".

For CRI, I'm Sophie Williams.