Sand Bucket Challenge Follows Chai Jing’s Viral Documentary on Pollution

After last summer's ice bucket challenge, it seems that all of us are going to have to start pouring buckets of sand on ourselves. Employees at a scenic spot in Sichuan province did exactly that, as they bathed in (dirty) sand in order to raise awareness for the environment, ecns.cn reports. No thanks.

The employees of the scenic spot wore huge gas masks in order to prove their commitment to the environment. We hate to be cynical (actually we secretly love it), but we'd rather not see a trend that adds to pollution and kicks even more dust into the air. There is definitely enough sand and dust everywhere as it is. Organizers may also find that their promotional techniques are soon quashed by the government, which has a long history of arbitrarily targeting lesser evils (barbecues, smoking) rather than cracking down on the real causes: cars and factories.

The stunt comes at a time when China’s debilitating pollution problem is going viral on the Chinese Internet, after a TED-style talk by former CCTV presenter Chai Jing hit 100 million views within a week (see above). The self-funded documentary, China’s Haze: Under the Dome looks at the causes of China’s pollution, and insinuates that the government could step up the battle.

Although receiving the expected criticism, a lot of people approved of the documentary, including China's new environmental minister. Although there are no English subtitles yet, this version on Youtube promises some soon (you can also help translate), otherwise check out the full documentary here or in segments on Youku here.

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Photo: ecns.cn, youtube.com