By Cheng Anqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-01 14:54

Liu Ying may be nearly 80 years old, but she is well ahead of the times when it comes to caring for the environment. Long before the Government announced its coming ban on plastic shopping bags, the savvy senior launched her own one-woman campaign against the landfill hazard they represent.

On any given day, 79-year-old Liu (pictured) can be found standing at the gates of her Fengtai district community, handing out roomy cloth bags to those strolling out of the courtyards, bound for their daily shopping. Over the past 15 years, Liu has handmade and embroidered nearly 4,000 of these reusable bags.

Her mission recently received added validation, with China ordering a ban in late 2007 on the production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic shopping bags, to take effect on June 1.

"My involvement may sound a little exaggerated, because after all I'm nobody and have no ability to make a big change on my surroundings. But our predecessors leave us priceless pressures, and our generation will be shamed if we leave an inheritance for the next generation of large heaps of plastic bags!" she says.

Liu plans to capitalize on the growing public awareness of environmental protection by selling her cloth bags, with profits to go towards her other passion, helping disadvantaged children through Project Hope.

"If it is possible. I'd like the bags I create to be purchased by the public. The more I sell, the more money I can make to help the children and the poor living in outlying areas," she says.

Dressed in a red sweater that highlights her radiant complexion and fair skin, Liu tells of her upbringing in Tianjin, where she was born into an academic family. She endured much suffering in the years leading to 1987, when she was appointed as the leader of senior Yangko Dancing (popular rural folk dance) group.

"While I really enjoyed the dancing activity at that time, I was meanwhile concerned about our living environment problem that was getting worse as the living condition was being improved day by day, which caused wasted resources and brought an increase in the number of people with hardly cured diseases," she says.

From 1992, Liu began her embroidering, sending the finished products to her relatives, neighbors and committee members. She has now created more than 3,335 bags, which she has given away at a cost of some 9,500 yuan. The bags are stylish, decorated with lovely patterns, and have proved popular with the young women of her neighborhood.

Liu receives a pension that covers her living expenses and her grandson's college tuition. The rest is devoted to her environmental endeavors, and to Project Hope,

Each day, she rises at 6am, spending the morning combing for materials to make her bags.

"I always head for Tianqiao Retailing Market and Exposition, by National Culture Hall, where I can find large quantities of odds and ends of cloth with good quality and in nice colors," Liu says.

A whole day searching yields a 15kg sack full of cloth ends. She takes the bus home, carrying her "treasure" in her hands or slung over her shoulder, never complaining when there is no available seat. Liu has never taken a taxi, preferring instead to save her money to purchase materials for her sewing.

"I can look after myself very well, which makes me happy!"

Liu disinfects the scraps she collects, stretching them out to dry before trimming them into the desired shapes for her bags. She has moved her sewing machine onto the balcony to make use of the natural light for her sewing. The area is now stacked with pieces of cloth and bags in various stages of production.

Despite her years, Liu's needlework skills remain flawless. She does not wear prescription glasses, and has no problems passing a thread through the eye of a needle.

"I started embroidering at a young age and was adept in sewing work, let alone simply threading a needle," she says with obvious pride.

"My daughter is supportive of what I'm engaged in, but she advises me to be sure to strike a balance between my work and the rest."

In a show window at her home, all kinds of medals, awards, citations and silk banners for her contribution to environment protection, and years of financial help to children in poverty-stricken areas are displayed. Liu was selected as one of Beijing's model senior citizens in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

But her face registers sadness and worry when speaking of the award received from Lei Feng Primary School in Yunnan province, a Project Hope beneficiary.

In August 2005, school's founder Wang Dongqiong made a special trip from the southern China province to express his gratitude for Liu's generous and consistent financial help. Over the years, Liu has contributed 10,744 yuan to Project Hope.

"The brief gathering didn't give me much time to prepare well, and I just bought him some living necessities and an article of clothing. We've never meet again since then." Unfortunately, Liu learned that Wang had fallen ill with cancer. She is terribly worried about his condition and sent another 600 yuan to Wang last month, praying he would shake off the sickness and return to health.