About 2,000 volunteers participated in a beach cleanup on Sunday at the Nanliao Seashell Park (南寮貝殼公園) in Hsinchu’s North District (北區).
Thirty-six groups, including the Buddha’s Light International Association, as well as students and teachers from other cities and counties took part in the cleanup, which was hosted by the Hsinchu Environmental Protection Bureau.
The Nanliao Fishing Harbor (南寮漁港) has long been a popular destination on weekends, and the Hsinchu City Government has over the past few years been trying to transform the Nanliao area, Hsinchu Deputy Mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
In addition to a large kite-flying area without any utility poles, there is now an artificial beach next to the Nanliao Tourist Information Center where children can play, she said.
There is also a newly installed stairway nearby designed to look like fish scales and the Nanliao Sports Park (南寮運動公園), Shen said.
With the addition of these attractions, continuous maintenance and management have become crucial to keeping the environment clean, and it requires a group effort to ensure that the coastline and fields are free of trash, Shen added.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Volunteers picked up various kinds of waste, such as plastic and glass bottles, and polystyrene foam, from the beach.
Last year, volunteers even found an abandoned motorcycle, Shen said.
The oceans are filled with plastic bags, straws and other plastic products that take a long time to break down in nature, not only damaging marine life, but also affecting human health through the food chain, Shen said.
Ahead of Earth Day on Monday next week, Shen invited volunteers to pledge to reduce their use of single-use plastic products.
Volunteers discovered that a majority of the waste on the beach was plastic, bureau Director Chiang Sheng-jen (江盛任) said.
A Buddha’s Light International Association member found a large fishing net buried under the sand, he said, adding that it took three attempts by more than 20 volunteers to pull it out.
To understand the marine debris problem and solve it at its source, the bureau has been collecting data and categorizing the trash collected in the annual cleanup using a chart designed by the International Coastal Cleanup, a movement launched by the Ocean Conservancy.
The data have allowed the bureau to educate Hsinchu-based businesses, groups and individuals on key sources of marine waste and ways they can help solve the problem, it said.
Hopefully, the data will help the bureau achieve its goal of managing marine debris at its source, and providing a clean and unpolluted coastal environment for residents and visitors, it added.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
GOOD INFLUENCE: Kwan said his mother tutored him at home for a few years, saying that she had to protect his ‘creativity’ as his writing had suffered Director and coproducer of the Oscar-winning absurdist comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once Daniel Kwan (關家永) on Sunday dedicated the movie to his Taiwanese mother, who he said supported his creativity growing up. “She is someone who sacrificed a lot for her kids,” Kwan, 35, said backstage at the Oscars. The movie, released early last year, received a commanding 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, with whom he also directed the 2016 fantasy film Swiss Army
A bipartisan US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan yesterday on a two-day visit that is to include meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The delegation comprises Republican US representatives and Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ken Calvert, Tom Cole, Dave Joyce and Mike Garcia, as well as Democratic US Representative Ed Case, the ministry said in a news release. Upon their arrival at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the five representatives were welcomed by North American Affairs Department Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), it said. During their visit, they are to meet
The Taipei City Government on Wednesday introduced of a series of tourism promotions, including free sightseeing bus tours and hotel discounts, in a bid to boost the number of international visitors. From now until June 30, 10,000 free Taipei Sightseeing Bus tickets are to be made available to travelers who stay in designated hotels for two nights, cruise passengers and European visitors transiting for more than 15 hours, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said. Eligible tourists can ask for the free four-hour unlimited ride bus tickets by presenting their passports at the hotels they stay in or from the
RSS