Home to a tight-knit community of artists, musicians and surfers, Taitung County’s Dulan Beach has long held a reputation for having one of the most pristine coastlines in all of Taiwan. But lately, its beauty has waned because of the increased number of fishing nets, foam boxes and plastic bottles washing up on its shores.
Saddened and appalled by the amount of litter he saw during a walk by a bay near Dulan earlier this year, artist Tim Joel founded the Facebook page, Only Solutions, to draw attention to the pollution. The group is organizing their first-ever Dulan Beach cleanup tomorrow afternoon.
“We are not just here to function as free garbage collectors,” says Michael O’Neill, a member of Only Solutions.
Photo courtesy of Only Solutions
The group’s strategy is two-pronged. In the short term, they will focus on education in the form of hosting presentations at local schools and organizing monthly clean-ups to raise awareness of the harmful effects of environmental pollution.
In fact, they have been in touch with the Rising Sun Surf Inn, a hostel and surf shop that has been active in organizing clean-ups in Yilan County, for suggestions, and hope to connect with other environmental groups in the future.
“It’s a way to harness the collective goodwill and energy in the local community to take immediate action and produce positive results,” O’Neill tells the Taipei Times.
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
The second and more long-term approach is applying pressure on the local government to implement laws that will force beachgoers and fishermen (since a lot of fishing nets have been washing ashore) to be more mindful of the environment.
O’Neill believes that at the very least, officials should install more rubbish bins and signs instructing people to use them. As simple as it sounds, O’Neill says, it has been a long and frustrating process trying to convince the government to fulfill this basic service.
“Getting the local council to recognize the value of making beautiful, natural beaches a feature tourist attraction for the region is still an ongoing challenge,” O’Neill says.
In the interim, Only Solutions has set up their own rubbish bins, and artists will be painting them at tomorrow’s beach clean-up.
“We want this to be a place where parents, like Tim, won’t have to describe to their kids what it used to be like,” O’Neill says.
If you plan on attending tomorrow’s beach clean-up, be sure to bring gloves, garbage bags and metal barbecue thongs for picking up trash — and lots of sunblock.
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