The ecological environment of rural areas in Pujiang county, Zhejiang province has seen great improvement over the past few years, thanks to the introduction of creative waste sorting initiatives by local government.

A public waste bin in Songxi village. [Photo by Qin Jun/chinadaily.com.cn]

In Songxi village, a mountainous village in Pujiang county with a history of more than 1,000 years, international students attending the 7th Jinhua Homestay project expressed how impressed they were by the tidy streets and neat cobblestoned roads.

However, things in the village were completely different just four years ago. Garbage was a serious problem and could be seen everywhere, with most of it not being degradable.

How did it happen? What did the local government do to solve the problem of waste in rural villages, where the implementation of garbage classification is often more difficult than in urban areas?

Every household in Songxi village has two waste bins placed at their front door, green for waste that "will rot" and grey for waste that "will not rot". [Photo by Qin Jun/chinadaily.com.cn]