When he was just a junior high student, Lee Ming-feng (李明峰) started visiting Taipei City Hall’s plaza during New Year’s Eve — but he wasn’t there for the concert or fireworks.
An active volunteer in a variety of endeavors since the third grade, Lee was there to help collect the trash strewn all over the plaza, streets and other nearby spots where people congregated to watch the fireworks.
Now a social work major at Hsuan Chuang University (玄奘大學), Lee is one of the leaders behind the youth volunteer movement that started two years ago, aimed toward keeping trash off the ground, sorting it for recycling and cleaning up after the fireworks. Youth Volunteer Service for Eco-Friendship (環保星勢力志工隊), which he founded as a 15-year-old, is one of four organizations working with the Department of Environmental Protection in this endeavor.
Photo courtesy of Youth Volunteer Service for Eco-Friendship
The other three are Taipei Red Cross, United Smile (笑擁青年聯盟) and the Chongde Education Foundation (崇德教育基金會). They work individually, each in charge of a specific area using their own methods.
If you are at the scene and see young people in vests running around asking revelers if they have trash, holding placards about keeping Taipei clean or even performing a flash mob dance routine to attract attention, that’s them.
Taipei City Government estimates show that more than 19 tonnes of trash were collected last year. Before the volunteers — of which high school and university students constitute the majority — stepped in, cleaning personnel would often have to work until almost daybreak, Lee says. Last year, all the work was done by before 2am.
Photo courtesy of Youth Volunteer Service for Eco-Friendship
His group’s volunteers range from junior high school students to working people, and last year he even had helpers travel from Taoyuan. They also work closely with Jingwen High School (景文高中), especially their pop dance club, to choreograph the flash mob routines.
Taipei Red Cross youth project manager Tao Hsiang-fu’s (陶相甫) group’s designated area includes the MRT, so he has volunteers waiting at the station asking people if they already have some trash they can discard. They also have people waiting at every major intersection leading to City Hall to intercept any garbage before they reach the main area.
Although city workers will eventually take care of the problem even without volunteers, Tao says there doesn’t have to be a reason to help out.
“I tell my students, if you can do something to help society, then go do it,” he says. “They think they can do this and make Taipei a better place. As far as my peers, many say that they don’t have anything to do after the fireworks anyway.”
Lee says through helping pick up trash, the ultimate goal is to spread awareness about keeping the environment clean. He says there has been improvement, as trash has decreased from 22 tonnes two years ago, and a smaller proportion of it was found on the ground.
“We want more people to care and develop good habits,” he says. “It’s not just about waiting for the trash to hit the ground, it’s about reducing the amount of trash you produce, such as using environmentally-friendly cups and chopsticks.”
Lee also hopes to instill in young people a spirit of volunteering, as he says many are first timers.
“They’re usually happy when it’s done, because not only did they get to see fireworks, they did something meaningful,” he says. “It’s an alternative way to spend your New Year’s Eve.”
While all the volunteer application information is in Chinese, Tao says all one needs to do is bring a plastic bag, collect trash around them and hand it to one of the volunteers.
“You don’t have to be a volunteer to be helpful,” he says.
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