Hosted by the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region, the Green Public Day, an activity under the 2012 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (2012MIECF), will open to the public for free admission on 31 March (Saturday), from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. A variety of green activities and performances are designed for children and their parents, aiming to disseminate the green message to the public in a lively and interesting manner. In this connection, a "Funny Green Award" site will be set up at the venue, to enable more people to know about this environmental reward points scheme and also engage in the green lifestyle. The Green Public Day, being the last day of MIECF, aims to continuously enhance public awareness in environmental protection through this annual event, and encourage the general public to actively support and put into practice various environmental works. The theme of this year´s Green Public Day is Environmental Protection – A Way of Life and an Attitude. Similar to last year, the Organiser will organise a series of children´s programme involving the participation of their parents, such as environmental workshops, GreenArt, parent-child game booths and educational electronic games. By means of interactive and interesting means, it aims to encourage the public to make good use of the resources and understand that environmentally-friendly habits start with everyday lifestyle. To enable the general public to gain better understanding of MIECF, the Organiser has also arranged guided tours, with special guides to introduce MIECF´s philosophy and the features of each exhibition zone, with information concerning waste reduction at source and green living, to promote public awareness in environmental protection. This year´s MIECF will also provide green vehicles test drives, so that the public can experience the characteristics of the electric vehicles. On the other hand, a fuel-efficient driver competition will be held to test on the eco-driving habits of the participants. In order to increase the excitement and the festive atmosphere of the venue, a number of stage performances including singing, dancing, magic shows and interactive games will also be held. To promote good environmental protection habits and sustain a greener lifestyle, the Environmental Protection Bureau has launched a "Funny Green Reward" scheme, which involves various aspects of environmental protection. Last year, it has launched for the first time the waste reduction and recycling activities, to encourage the habits of waste separation and recycling. Members of the "Funny Green Reward" will receive bonus points by providing a certain number of recyclable items. The points can be redeemed for supermarket coupons. The responsible government authorities intend to upgrade the scheme in the future by expanding the recycling network and promoting different forms of environmental behaviour. In order to encourage participation, DSPA will set-up a "Funny Green Award" site at the venue for membership application on the Green Public Day. New members as well as existing members visiting the Green Public Day venue will receive 50 points. Furthermore, the Organiser also plans to use the waste materials collected under the "Funny Green Award", such as newspapers, magazines and aluminium cans and recycle the materials into environmentally-friendly souvenirs. Admission tickets to the Green Public Day are available at the venue. Ticket holders will also receive a green souvenir, on a first-come first-served basis, while stock lasts. Free shuttle bus service will be provided, both for the convenience of the visitors to the venue and as a way to promote green travel. Three shuttle bus routes are available from Avenida do Dr. Mario Soares (Macau Square), Avenida Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida (bus stop at Pak Vai Building) and Estrada Marginal do Hipodromo (Royal Supermarket, Iao Hon) to the venue (the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel) respectively. Free shuttle bus service runs from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm at a thirty-minute interval. In addition, 4-hour free parking is also available for the MIECF visitors. It is recommended that several passengers can share a car ride as a mean to support green travel. For enquiries about the content of this press release, please contact the 2012MIECF Secretariat, tel.: (853) 8798-9675, fax: (853) 2872 3332, e-mail: miecf@koelnmesse.com.hk or visit the official website: www.macaomiecf.com
