Those who have been to Waiao Beach (外澳) in Yilan might have heard of Candy Lin (林靜如), or “Queen Candy” as she is known among the local surf community. Dressed in a sundress, or overalls, she’s usually putting up trash cans along the beach, cleaning up Waiao Train Station (外澳火車站) or leading groups of children on beach clean-ups.
On Saturday, along with the Chinese Taipei Surfing Association (CTSA), Lin will be hosting a beach clean-up at Double Lions Beach (雙獅) next to Waiao. The clean-up will be part of the CTSA’s annual National Springtime Surfing Championships held at Double Lions and contestants will also take part in the clean-up.
Lin, who is also co-founder of the Rising Sun Surf Inn, says that she’s happy to see more beach clean-ups taking place along Taiwan’s east coast but wants to stress the educational aspect of it.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Open of Surfing
“It doesn’t work if we just go to the beach and pick up trash,” Lin tells the Taipei Times. “There needs to be a change in the way that people view their natural surroundings.”
In addition to clean-ups, Lin also organizes lectures at Waiao Community Center about environmental and ocean awareness and tries to make clean-ups fun by converting them into trash art competitions.
George Tsai (蔡濯羽) of the CTSA is happy to have Lin in charge of the clean-up activity for this year’s surf competition.
Photo courtesy of Rising Sun Surf Inn
“Candy has become sort of a legend in our community,” says Tsai, a surf instructor and owner of Super George Surf Shop.
He adds that’s it’s important for new surfers to be environmentalists as well, as learning how to surf normally comes hand in hand with learning how to respect nature.
CULTIVATING CIVIC CONSCIOUSNESS
Photo courtesy of Rising Sun Surf Inn
Lin was an unlikely person to be an environmental activist. Growing up between Taipei and Tainan, she hadn’t thought about surfing until she and her business partner, Garrett Ball, opened the Rising Sun Surf Inn in 2012.
“We barely had any guests in our first year,” Lin recalls. “So I walked around the beach and saw a lot of trash sitting around and thought that it shouldn’t be here.”
Waiao Train Station reminded Lin of the train station in a small village in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture where she used to live.
Photo courtesy of Rising Sun Surf Inn
“The old people in that village in Japan would clean up the train station every week so I wondered why we didn’t do that here.”
Lin started by cleaning the train station and beach and soon after, surfers and other people who lived nearby joined her. Together, they set up trash cans along the beach instructing beach-goers how to separate and dispose of their trash and had groups of schoolchildren paint the trash cans.
These days, instead of trash in Waiao, it’s common to see cabbage and other crops sitting out under the sun to dry. The crops belong to elderly residents who were initially hostile towards Lin and the surfers for encroaching into their neighborhood.
“They would get mad when I tried to explain to them why burning their trash on the beach was bad for the environment and their health,” Lin says.
Two summers ago, Typhoon Soudelor hit Waiao badly and their crops were destroyed. Lin and the surfers helped pick up the damaged crop and plant new vegetables. Upon seeing their efforts, the elderly people were grateful and haven’t burned trash on the beach since.
“Now, when I get back from a trip overseas, they’ll say, ‘Candy is back!’ and show me a part of the beach that they cleaned up,” Lin laughs.
She adds that it just takes time to cultivate civic consciousness and change people’s mindsets.
“We’ve seen it happen with the elderly residents and there’s no reason it can’t happen with everyone else who comes to the beach.”
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