Building a green community 119Community-based air quality monitoring activities in urban China
Chinese environmental NGOs became involved publicly in air quality monitoring
after Beijing’s official air quality measurement became controversial. Its method
was considered inconsistent with international standards, as it excluded the
level of the pollutant PM2.5. This type of particulate is more toxic than PM 10
components, such as dirt, dust, smoke, mold, and pollen, and is small enough to
directly enter the lungs and even the bloodstream, with serious health effects on
people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children (Consulate General
of the United States, Shanghai China 2013). Since 2008, the U.S. Embassy in
Beijing has been tracking and releasing air quality data, issuing hourly air quality
readings on a Twitter account @BeijingAir using the U.S. EPA standard as its
measure. Later, its consulates in major cities, such as Guangzhou and Shanghai,
also started posting measurement results. The discrepancy between the U.S. and
Chinese data has stirred intense discussions among urban residents and bloggers.
In summer 2011, Beijing-based NGO Daerwen Nature Quest Agency initiated
a grassroots air quality testing campaign focusing on PM2.5 levels, urging the
government to measure and announce its levels. On its website, members of the
organization post test results taken at various locations in Beijing, along with the
weather conditions, equipment used, and names of participants. The group offered
any city resident the opportunity to borrow the equipment, learn how to use it, and
post their “air quality diaries” on the Daerwen website.
Within weeks, similar activities appeared in other large cities, including Wuhan,
Chongqing, and Nanjing. Environmental NGO leaders organized existing members
and newly recruited volunteers to measure PM2.5 pollution level at different
neighborhoods and regularly post air quality logs online, using hand-held devices
donated or lent by equipment manufacturers or purchased through fundraising.
For this research project, the author collected data in 2012 through web
analysis and interviews of the following groups: Daerwen Nature Quest Agency
based in Beijing; the Wuhan branch of Friends of Nature; Yueqing Green
Volunteers Association based in Wenzhou; Shanghai Citizen Measurement
Group; and Chongqing Youth Environmental Exchange Center. Among the five
groups, Daerwen started posting PM2.5 data first, in September 2011, though some
measurement activities started in July. It is the largest of the five groups, but its
air-quality testing posts were less frequent than the others. The Chongqing NGO
was the last to join the action in May 2012. All of the groups except for Daerwen
have only one to two full-time staff, working primarily with volunteer teams to
conduct measurements.
Citizen expertise versus official agencies
The NGOs announced on their websites and through microblogging that the
purpose and significance of their air quality measurement activities was to provide
test results regularly to the public as an alternative source of information because
official data may be unavailable or unreliable. For instance, Daerwen Nature