Painting everything green — even stapling plastic leaves to bare trees.

China's been making great strides to appear more environmentally friendly. With their notorious reputation for pollution and carbon emissions, it comes as no surprise that they have been making efforts to paint a greener picture.

It has, however, come to light that China's government has been painting their natural environment green to give the illusion of being cleaner and more eco-friendly. Now, that might seem like a positive step forward to some extent, but the paints they're using are unsafe for the environment and even toxic to humans.

One of China's most notable green landscape paintings can be seen in their efforts to restore the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The plateau is a fragile ecosystem and has been home to many rare and endangered species, and it has suffered immensely due to human activities like mining and tourism.

In an ineffective effort to restore the area, China has been using green paint to cover up the barren patches of land to make it appear as though the grass has regrown.

It looks pretty from a distance, but by painting it green, they are destroying the very ecosystem that they're attempting to restore.

Another great example of China's green painting can be seen in their attempt to improve the air quality in Beijing. To prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese government planted thousands of trees along the city streets.

But when the trees failed to thrive in the harsh city environment, they resorted to spraypainting the trees green to give the illusion of a thriving urban forest. And of course, the paint they used contained toxic chemicals that likely harmed the surrounding ecosystem.

China has also been known to paint the buildings and infrastructure green to give off the same illusion.

I guess it works well if you're just trying to appear greener.

China's been focusing on cosmetic solutions to deeply rooted problems instead of implementing sustainable solutions that prioritize the well-being of both humans and the environment.

The illusion of goodness can be more harmful than we think.

So why all the facade?

Why is the Chinese government so concerned about appearing to be greener than it really is?

Well, of course, it's all about money.

The Chinese government gives financial incentives for going green and making restorative efforts to the natural environment.

Most audits of greener areas are done by planes flying overhead, so not much of it gets more than a glance for approval.

Now, this has been an environmental issue for years, and since all the uproar, many areas of China are taking a different approach. Fake trees, vines, and leaves — fake everything. They're even stapling fake green leaves to bare trees. That's not a solution, it's just another problem.

I wondered if there was anything to be learned from what China has been doing besides the obvious, but here's what I've got.

Don't trust appearances.

Efforts may not always be as effective or successful as they appear.

Some factories in China have even painted their buildings and chimneys green to distort the fact that they are still heavily polluting the environment.

Don't ignore the root cause of the problem.

China's rapid economic growth has significantly contributed to pollution, and without addressing the root issue, cosmetic environmental changes will not be enough to create lasting change. It could even make things worse.

Don't forget about the long-term consequences.

China's green initiatives may have been visually effective in the short term, but we must always consider the long-term impact of deception.

And the moral of it all?

Well, I think the lesson of "just paint it green" can be applied to many aspects of life, but I'll let you decide where it fits best for you.

Thank you for reading.