About 63 percent of people still use disposable utensils and straws from convenience stores, the RE-THINK Environmental Education Association said on Tuesday, as it vowed to transform convenience stores into model spaces for environmental awareness.
The organization partnered with National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) researchers and FamilyMart to survey environmental literacy among convenience store customers.
Although respondents agreed it is important to reduce waste from the source, 63 percent said they are still accustomed to taking disposable utensils, the group said.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
About 40 percent incorrectly answered questions about common recycling methods at convenience stores, it said, adding that older people were more likely to answer incorrectly.
The survey showed that Taiwanese agree about the importance of recycling and sustainability, but there is still reluctance to cut back on single-use utensils, NTNU Graduate Institute of Sustainability Management and Environmental Education professor Yeh Shin-cheng (葉欣誠) said.
Convenience stores are limited by their promise of convenience, he said, adding that the two greatest challenges to sustainability are cost and convenience.
Hopefully the survey could encourage stores to provide clear incentives and guidance for their customers on environmentally friendly practices, Yeh said.
RE-THINK operates under a “3P” strategy, short for “people, place and planet,” organization cofounder Jason Huang (黃之揚) said.
Practically, this means communicating with the public, designing model spaces for sustainability and encouraging people to donate e-receipts, he said.
It hopes to transform convenience stores into spaces for environmental education, he said, adding that it has created a convenience store “recycling encyclopedia.”
It is also working with FamilyMart on a three-year donation drive to improve environmental education in schools.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS