Reusable cup rentals have now made it to Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in a bid to reduce plastic waste and its burden on the sensitive marine environments.
There are 1,200 reusable cups available for rental on the two outlying islands, the Taitung County Environmental Protection Bureau said on Sunday.
The initiative began at the end of last year, but uptake was limited due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel, it said.
Photo courtesy of Lynn Mo via CNA
However, more visitors began using the system over the Lunar New Year holiday, it added.
There are five automatic kiosks on Green Island and four on Orchid Island, where cups can be rented and returned.
Users need only scan a QR code and register their cup number to borrow a cup, which is professionally cleaned and sanitized before re-entering circulation.
To promote its initiative, the bureau invited travel writer Lynn Mo (黃小莫) to come and see for herself.
Mo, whose writing centers on environmental and ecological topics, said that borrowing can save not only a paper cup, but also the plastic cover and straw that come with it.
Stores also offer a discount to customers who bring their own cup in a win-win situation for visitors and the environment, she said.
Green Island also has a few dozen drinking fountains, which could eliminate the need for bottled water when paired with the rental cups, saving both money and waste, she added.
An owner of a drink shop said that they joined as soon as the initiative was announced to help protect the environment, as their family is involved in the tourism industry.
Visitors seem to be taking part, they said, referencing the many customers they have encountered using the cups.
The kiosks on Green Island are at Nanliao Harbor (南寮漁港), the airport, the township office, 7-Eleven and Ding Go.
There are also five locations where cups can be returned, but not rented — at the duty-free and hot spring stores, and three hotels.
On Orchid Island, cups can be rented and returned at Kaiyuan Harbor (開元漁港), the airport and two 7-Eleven stores, and can be returned at the township office.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS