Shengguo Xu

A ‘red line’ was established, identifying an area requiring for ecological protection in Tianjin, China. Within the protected area of the red line area, the Qilihai wetland is an important ecotope with complex ecological functions, although the ecosystem is seriously disturbed due to anthropogenic activities in the surrounding areas. This study assesses the water quality status of the Qilihai wetlands to identify the pollution sources and potential improvements based on the ecological red line policy, to improve and protect the waters of the Qilihai wetlands. An indicator system was established to assess water quality status using single factor evaluation and a comprehensive evaluation method, supported by data from 2010 to 2013. Assessment results show that not all indicators met the requirement of the Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water (GB3838-2002) and that overall, waters in the Qilihai wetland were seriously polluted. Based on these findings we propose restrictions on all polluting anthropogenic activities in the red line area and implementation of restoration projects to improve water quality.

The government green purchase is widely considered to be an effective means of promoting sustainable consumption. However, how to identify the greener product is the biggest obstacle of government green purchase and it has not been well solved. A quantitative evaluation method is provided to measure the green degree of different products of the same use function with an indicator system established, which includes fundamental indicators, general indicators, and leading indicators. It can clearly show the products’ green extent by rating the scores of different products, which provides the government a tool to compare the green degree of different products and select greener ones. A comprehensive evaluation case of a project purchasing 1635 desk computers in Tianjin government procurement center is conducted using the green degree evaluation system. The environmental performance of the products were assessed quantitatively, and the evaluation price, which was the bid price minus the discount (the discount rate was according to the total scores attained by their environmental performance), and the final evaluation price ranking from low to high in turn is supplier C, D, E, A, and B. The winner, supplier C, was not the lowest bid price or the best environmental performance, but it performed well at both bid price and environmental performance so it deserved the project. It shows that the green extent evaluation system can help classify the different products by evaluating their environment performance including structure and connection technology, selection of materials and marks, prolonged use, hazardous substances, energy consumption, recyclability rate, etc. and price, so that it could help to choose the greener products.