Household appliances contain plastic components. Medical devices made of sterile plastic, such as disposable syringes and plasma bags, are indispensable to 21st-century healthcare. By preventing bruising and contamination, plastic packaging reduces food waste. Plastic cups and dishes are less fragile than ceramic tableware. PVC pipes and window frames have made house-building cheaper.
But not everyone who benefits from this wonder material knows that plastics production requires huge amounts of energy, most of which is generated by burning fossil fuels. Plastics plants are also a source of harmful pollutants including benzene.
Nor do all consumers appreciate the extent to which plastic
In one of the most remote parts of Chiayi County, a hamlet shares the exact same name as a well-known center of tea production in New Taipei City.
Pinglin (坪林) in Dapu Township (大埔) is around 550m above sea level. The road to it is good enough for any car or motorcycle, and so few people live there that it’s an ideal place for the virus-afraid to go sightseeing.
I rode in from Yujing District (玉井) in Tainan, taking Provincial Highway 3 through Nansi (楠西) and above Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫). At the entrance to Chiayi Farm (嘉義農場), I halted briefly, curious if
Depending on who you talk to, beach cleanups are valuable opportunities to build environmental awareness, or well-intentioned yet Sisyphean attempts to reduce ocean pollution. There are also cynics who dismiss such events as nothing better than backdrops against which virtue-signaling millennials can take selfies.
Ryan Hevern is in no doubt where he stands.
“We can’t clean it all up, and there’ll be trash there again tomorrow. We know that, we aren’t naive. But if we can help people become more mindful, so they make minor adjustments to their everyday routine, we’ll have a more positive impact on the planet,” he says.
Tainan is a place of ancient buildings, old traditions and distinguished trees. Some of these living landmarks outstayed seven Qing emperors and the Japanese colonial government that ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, then survived the country’s breakneck modernization following World War II.
In 2012, the Tainan City Government created a legal framework for the protection of precious old trees. Details of 271 evergreen and deciduous trees so far registered can be found at: oldtree.tainan.gov.tw (Chinese only). This database, maintained by the city government’s Agriculture Bureau, is an excellent resource for tree aficionados planning sightseeing trips around the municipality.
Few of these
When Dongi Kacaw was asked to write three articles about indigenous wild greens 26 years ago, she responded with surprise.
“I don’t know how to do that,” she says. “I just know how to eat them!”
But after returning to Hualien, the indigenous Pangcah (Amis) now known as the “godmother of wild greens” (野菜教母) could not stop thinking about the request. She couldn’t find anything in the library about the plants she grew up with so she went home to ask her parents.
“I started taking photos, visiting sunset markets, going foraging with old people … I completely threw