TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Businesses along New Taipei’s coastline have joined the New Taipei City Government Environmental Protection Department’s (EPD) Beach Cleaning Cooperative to promote the idea that beach cleaning can be done anytime, anywhere.
EPD Secretary Hsu Wei-yuan (徐維遠) told Business Today that the program is part of the EPD’s 2020 policy to engage youths on sustainability and environmental protection issues. “We realized that young people are frequent visitors of beaches, and when they see trash on beaches, they are helpless rather than apathetic,” he was quoted as saying.
Through the Beach Cleaning Cooperative, local businesses help provide beach cleaners with necessary tools, including government-issued trash bags and gloves, and work with the EPD to dispose of trash. This way, beach cleaning can become an everyday activity rather than an irregular event.
Lin Shu-hung poses by a buoy reading "Beach Cleaning Cooperative." (Business Today photo)
Lin Shu-hung (林書弘), manager of a restaurant in Shimen District named Bay and Oasis, said staff at the restaurant were glad to be invited to join the cooperative, as they believe it can encourage tourists to clean beaches spontaneously. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan, Lin regularly gathered local businesses and residents for beach cleaning, according to Business Today.
Beautiful Moon Coffee founder Jack Lin (林祐毅) recalled the staggering amount of trash littering the large bush-filled area in the past. He, his friends, and volunteers who answered the call through social media eventually cleaned up the path leading from the cafe to the beach, reported Business Today.
Now, Tamsui District's Beautiful Moon Coffee has joined the cooperative, adding the power of social media to the initiative and combining business with environmental protection.
Coaches at the Now Diving Center. (Business Today photo)
In addition, diving coaches at Gongliao District’s Now Diving Center have made a dedicated effort to pick up marine debris while running an equipment rental and diving instruction business. “Deep under the sea, discarded gillnets and tires often get stuck between coral reefs and rocks and hurt the wildlife. Sometimes it takes dozens of people to remove a piece of net,” said coach Chiang Hsiao-yu.
Aside from leading divers on routine sea cleaning missions, Now Diving Center was also the first to join the Beach Cleaning Cooperative, per Business Today,