His money may be limited, but his imagination has no boundaries. Sun Yibo, an undergraduate from the college of liberal arts at Southwest University, spent only 36 yuan ($6) to produce a short public service announcement for water conservation, which won first prize at a national college internet culture festival recently.

He made the one-minute film all by himself with a camera, two lamps and five glasses. The title of the advertisement is To Make Proper Use of Every Drop of Water.

In the film, five glasses hold the water from the ocean, glaciers, deep underground, rain and snow as well as fresh water. The glasses are moved one by one until the last glass with a small amount of fresh water indicates the current situation on our planet.

In the end, a piece of white paper covers the glass of fresh water and the glass is turned upside down with the paper on it.

“The water in the five glasses represents different types of water resources on earth,” he said. “But the amount of fresh water for human consumption is so limited.”

The white paper symbolizes morals which can help preserve water, he added.
“If there are no morals, the water will fall out and disappear.”

Last July, Sun took part in a project for Chongqing Association for Science and Technology to shoot some short films for environmental protection. He was assigned to produce a film on water and air protection.

With no idea how to do the project, Sun walked into a supermarket and saw a set of five glasses on sale for 36 yuan.

“A glass is used to hold water,” he recalled. “Maybe I can do something with those glasses.”

He spent four days to complete the shooting and his work was recommended for participation in the festival.