Next to the couch in Aimee and Noam Eppel’s Taichung apartment sits an air filter and an air quality monitor, which the health-conscious couple check routinely. On a recent overcast afternoon, their monitor showed the air quality to be a cautionary “orange,” or between 101 and 150 on the Environmental Protection Administration’s Air Quality Index (AQI). Anything below 51 is considered good.
And while some just complain about the quality of the nation’s air, the Eppels, along with fellow Taichung resident Michael Schram, are doing something about it.
The trio are helping to organize a charity basketball tournament on Sunday in Taichung, with the proceeds going to air pollution awareness. The NT$40,000 they hope to raise will be donated to Air Clean Taiwan (ACT), a local non-profit environmental group.
Photo courtesy of Noam Eppel
Comprised mostly of medical professionals in Taichung and Changhua, ACT hopes to raise public awareness of the nation’s air quality. In addition, the group has called on the government to tighten factory emission standards, said Xu Hsin-hsin (許心欣), an ACT researcher.
“I think more people are aware of the bad air,” said Noam Eppel. “A lot more people in Taiwan are talking about this.”
Recent rallies in Taichung and Kaohsiung attracted thousands of protesters calling for cleaner air, especially in the nation’s central and southern regions.
One of those protesting was Dominic Cope, a father of 4-year-old twins, who recently decided that he will move his family away from Taiwan out of health concerns.
Cope clearly remembers the hazy day a few months ago when he made the decision to move. As he watched his children on the playground, Cope was alarmed when his portable pollution sensor noted the air quality was very unhealthy, or over 250 on the AQI.
“I said, ‘This cannot be good for the kids. I have to look elsewhere,’” recalled Cope, a manager for a cloud computer firm and a resident of Taiwan for 16 years. While not playing basketball, Cope said he will be at the charity tournament to support the cause.
The tournament, open to both men and women, features a total of 16 teams, with each team made up of three to five players.
In addition to basketball, food and drink vendors, face painting, balloon art and music will be available.
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