Water down the drain
The YP team took on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge too to raise money for the Hong Kong Neuro-Muscular Disease AssociationThe ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a huge success. It became an internet sensation, with people nominating their friends to take part in the challenge. However, many of us may have forgotten a very important issue - you waste a lot of water in the process.
It may be just a bucket of water, but when you consider that hundreds of thousands of people have accepted the challenge, it's actually really wasteful.
Guess what the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, did when he took on the challenge? He poured toilet water on himself! Since it is undrinkable, it wasn't such a waste compared to the popular method. How clever is that?
Julian Wong, Wah Yan College Hong Kong
From the Editor
Thank you for your letter, Julian. This Ice Bucket Challenge has been very successful at raising money for its cause. Many ways of raising money or having fun can seem wasteful. For instance, the Tomatina Festival in Spain, where people throw tomatoes at each other, can be seen as a huge waste of food.
It started in 1945 in Valencia when some youngsters began having a food fight with tomatoes. The government tried to stop it - they even put some of the participants in jail - but people did it anyway. Eventually the authorities gave in and it became official.
Today it is one of the town's main attractions and attracts a lot of tourists who spend their money there. So you see? Sometimes a thing may seem "wasteful", but have huge benefits, just like the Challenge.
Susan, Editor