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DR. V SUNDARESWARAN
T JOSEPH BENZIGER
Taking up a public cause and dedicating one’s lifetime for it is not something that attracts all. Only a very few persons have the courage and determination needed for such activities.
 China’s Tian Guirong is one of such extraordinary persons. The global youth should draw inspiration from such persons and face the challenges of the fast changing world.
Environmental protection is, in the modern context, the most important public cause. The humankind has achieved industrial advancement at a very heavy cost. We have spoiled our atmosphere and many natural resources supporting life on this planet, for industrial development. The enormous increase of human population is another reason for the damages caused to environmental systems. Most of the people do not know the seriousness of this problem; some of the people do know it but do not think that they have anything to do with it; a few know that they should do something about it but do not have the inclination and time to do it; only a very few, who place the public welfare above their personal welfare, come forward to work for environmental protection. Among them also, we find very rarely a person who stays in spite of hardships and dangers. Tian Guirong is one of such rare gems of human beings.
Tian Guirong was born in Xinxiang in a farmer’s family. She began selling batteries in 1992. By chance she came to know about the damage caused by the discarded batteries to the environment. When she knew that one mercury-based battery could contaminate 600,000 liters of water, she was shocked. She started collecting used batteries to prevent them from leaking toxins and polluting environment. She put battery collection boxes with green environmental flags in various stores. She spent her hard-earned money for these efforts and till she could find a suitably safe site for their disposal, her house was full of used batteries! She worked hard to create awareness among the farmers about the importance of environmental protection.1
About these efforts Tian Guirong has said,2 "I've dragged my entire family into my environmental business. My son and daughter all hold positions in my organization. My husband is in charge of gathering used batteries when collecting boxes are full. They fully support me now, but I often feel guilty. I've devoted altogether 400,000 Yuan ($49,000) into my career over the past seven years--you know, with that money you can buy a decent house in Xinxiang. If it hadn't been for my persistence, my family could have lived a richer life instead of living in a small, rented apartment. I knew I was riding on a tiger, but I chose to keep riding on it because I knew what I was doing was not for myself, but for our environment, for our next generations. In February 2002, my organization was finally established. At the inauguration ceremony, I saw my husband weeping in the crowd. Only he understood what I'd gone through."
Tian Guirong has collected more than 70 tons of used batteries since 1999. She got the title of ‘Environmental Protection Ambassador of China’. She was given the National Mother River Protection Prize. She got the American Gleitsman Individual Achievement Award and the Ford Environmental Protection prize. She was named one of the China’s green figures of 2005.
Once she became involved in the subject of environment, more serious problems attracted her attention. What started with the disposal of batteries, spread to several others areas of environmental protection. She became concerned with air and water pollutions. In 2001, here hands were full with the environmental issues. She formed a group called the Xinxiang Environmental Protection Volunteers Association that has been instrumental for closing more than 100 polluting factories, which were responsible for illness and death among local residents.
Public Service also has two sides. Though many people appreciate the efforts taken by her group, Tian and her fellow volunteers receive threats from thugs hired by angry factory owners. But this does not stop her. Her group is busy taking photos of waste discarded by factories, having river water tested and handing over the evidence over to the local environmental bureau. The group takes several initiatives and creates awareness among the rural communities about how they could contribute to environmental protection and thus avoid serious illness and death.3
In spite of dangers involved, the courageous 59-year old farmer-environmentalist continues her mission. The loss of lives and health of the people in rural areas caused by reckless pollution by factories that do not observe proper safety norms, makes her more and more determined.
Tian says the environment in the area has improved markedly since the 1990s, when she says rivers near Xinxiang were black from human and industrial waste. Now, most waterways near the city appear to be clear.4
When she won the Green China Award, Tian Guirong observed with humility, "I'm just an ordinary farmer. And farming has been my livelihood. We can say our farmers' lives are attached to the land. Only with good soil can we have a better life. So we cannot afford to see our land polluted and destroyed. My village and I will carry on the effort."
Tian is vigorously pursuing her social commitment with inspection tours, determined to catch out factories that discard their waste on the sly.
Sources
1. http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/33905.htm
2.http://www.womenofchina.cn/Profiles/EverydayWomen/2048.jsp
3.http://www.greendiary.com/entry/one-courageous-woman-
fighting-against-all-odds-for-a-green-china/
4. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/One_womans_fight_against_pollution_in_China_999.html
http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Guirong%20Tian%20-%20China%20redim%2050p.jpg
“I've been cursed, threatened and misunderstood, but I never changed my mind. In this sense, I think I'm qualified.”
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