Environmental authorities of Shanghai are looking to help the poor while reducing the amount of clothes, blankets and other goods that get thrown away in several hundred communities around the city.

Authorities will set up a charitable donation event to collect used, but still valuable goods, prior to New Year's Day in 500 "green communities" to help people in poor parts of the country, according to Shen Yonglin, the City and Urban Protection Office chief of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.

"Every year there are people in need of various goods while some are discarded in big cities like Shanghai," said Shen.

"We simply want to find the best way to dispose of these goods, and we need residents in the green communities to take a lead in acknowledging the practice's environmental significance."

The bureau has teamed up with Michelin (China) Investment Co, a branch of the world's top tire company, to build up the Michelin Green Community campaign over the past two years. The campaign honors communities that meet certain environmental standards, and provides them financial support for further construction.

Shen said they will work with civil affairs department to further expand the charitable event, and find new channels to collect goods, such as charity supermarkets.

(Shanghai Daily December 19, 2005)