Your eco-conscious guide to getting around the city
Life in an urban city isn’t without its issues. Hong Kong suffers from a plastic pandemic of epic proportions, discarding over five million plastic bottles alone on a daily basis. The city’s beaches and sea shores often lie in ruin at the hands of a seemingly never-ending, single-use cycle. But all isn’t lost; the future isn’t necessarily bleak. The world is recognising the problems that have come with fast-fashion, fast food, and unsustainable lifestyles, and Hong Kong is following suit.
If you’re looking to take some steps toward a waste-free, wellness-focused lifestyle and curb your carbon footprint, there are plenty of businesses and initiatives in Hong Kong to help you on your way. The growth of the wellness industry can be seen across the city and eco-friendly shops, cruelty-free beauty brands and the like are cropping up around nearly every corner, encouraging city-dwellers to adopt sustainable practices across all aspects of their life. We’ve put together a city guide for wellness warriors looking to experience the best of Hong Kong living, and those looking to stay sustainable in every aspect of your life, from the produce in your pantry to the car you drive. By Amanda Sheppard
True to its name, Slowood encourages people with a hectic, fast-paced city life to slow down to enjoy the moments that matter most. Encouraging clean living and mindful moments, the grocery and zero-waste store stocks an array of all-natural, sustainably sourced drinks, snacks, kitchenware, raw produce, lifestyle and homeware goods. With a focus on offering alternatives to bulk-bought, mass-produced staples, Slowood operates with sustainability at its very core.
As the first zero-waste store to open its doors in the city, Live Zero paved the way for a plastic-free lifestyle in Hong Kong. It services Hong Kong’s eco-conscious shoppers from two locations – one in Sai Ying Pun and one in Sai Kung – and sells a wide range of environmentally friendly and package-free bulk groceries, pantry staples and lifestyle and beauty products that encourage a zero-waste, low-carbon footprint lifestyle among consumers.
This neighbourhood yoga studio sits atop Sheung Wan, cultivating a consciousness of the self and your surroundings. It welcomes students of all experience levels and also caters to private and small groups on request. Drawing on nutritional science and Ayurvedic philosophies, Kita Yoga adopts a holistic approach to all things wellness-related and offers nutritional programmes and dietary and lifestyle advice to help improve your immunity, energy, sleep and overall health.
A relative newcomer to Hong Kong’s lean, green restaurant scene, Kind Kitchen is an all-vegan café concept by Green Monday founder, David Yeung. It offers an inventive take on plant-based cuisine, from the use of meat-free Omnipork to its wide range of organic teas and drinks. Its dedicated children’s menu with its healthy spin on comfort food classics encourages young ones to get their greens in from an early age.
If you are going to adopt an eco-friendly mindset and think sustainably when you eat, drink and shop, you should navigate the streets the same way. Smart, a brand under Mercedes-Benz, is the first car brand with its sights set on a clean switchover from combustion engines to electric drive. Its new smart forfour electric drive features an innovative and eco-conscious design that offers a comfortable, convenient and emission-free alternative to commuting, in tune with the wave of change and wellness seen across the city. What’s more, the smart forfour and its two-seat counterpart, the smart fortwo, are the only first registration tax-free electric vehicles in Hong Kong.
Life in a concrete jungle doesn’t need to mean a lack of greenery. Urban farming movement Rooftop Republic has been encouraging city-dwellers to develop a closer relationship with the food they eat by populating rooftops and open, urban spaces with plants. Working with a team of collaborative architects, engineers, nutritionists and farmers, the social enterprise has been greening the city from the top down for five years, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Eating out doesn’t need to involve wasting food and adding to your carbon footprint. New Cantonese grill and dim sum restaurant John Anthony opened with sustainability as one of its founding focuses. From the ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients on the menu to its compost facility to eliminate food waste, the restaurant has adopted a no-tolerance policy on waste. This even includes the textiles used in its staff uniforms, which are made from repurposed overproduced materials that would have otherwise been discarded.
From its origins as a Bali beach spot to its thriving neighbourhood location in Sai Ying Pun, restaurant and bar Potato Head has done plenty to reduce waste and the dependency on single-use plastics in Hong Kong’s food and beverage outlets. Swapping plastic straws for reusable bamboo, customers can order a cocktail with a conscience, knowing that the bar also composts its waste, helping to fertilise herbs it uses in its own dishes and drinks.
