Environment

Trashy Taiwan

(Original photo via Uncle Mut at 34)

No, I’m not trashin’ Taiwan. I’m talking about trash in Taiwan, thanks to a recent opinion piece by Julia Ross in the Washington Post.

• What I Picked Up About Trash in Taipei
  By Julia Ross
  December 2, 2007

When I planned for my year in Taiwan two summers ago, trash was the last thing on my mind. The more obvious challenges of moving abroad — finding an apartment, buying a cellphone and navigating the bus system — preoccupied me in the weeks before my departure. I worried most about studying Mandarin full-time, the difficulty of mastering the language’s four tones and the intricate arcs, fishhooks and grids that make up written Chinese.

But strange things happen when you cross cultures. Unexpected frustrations vex you, and habits ingrained over years suddenly come up for negotiation. So it was for me and waste disposal.

On this leaf-shaped island of 23 million people 100 miles off China’s coast, trash matters. My Taipei landlady was the first to make that point, when she gave me a crash course on how to dispose of household waste like a local. First, buy city-approved trash bags at the corner 7-Eleven. Then, meet the garbage truck five nights a week at the mouth of a nearby alley. Finally, heave the bags onto the truck yourself….

In Taiwan, recycling trucks tag along behind trash collectors, but they accept only certain items on certain nights. According to the strictly enforced schedule, plastic bottles must be separated from plastic wrapping and bags, and flat recyclables, such as Styrofoam trays and cardboard dumpling boxes, are collected only on Mondays and Fridays. Show up with bundled newspapers on the wrong night, and you’ll get an earful from the sanitation worker. Feigning ignorance of Mandarin won’t absolve you, either.

Ross, a writer and former U.S. Fulbright scholar in Taiwan, is a talented storyteller. Her recollections of waiting for garbage trucks on the bustling curbsides of Taipei illustrate a broader significance about the the intricacies of municipal waste-disposal systems…and how they influence society’s relationship with throwing stuff away. “Watching the city’s disparate trash tribes at work shamed me into compliance after years as a half-hearted recycler back home,” Ross writes, commenting on the various groups of people–”ladies with tongs, food court employees, nosy landlords”–who help keep Taiwan a clean city.

According to Ross, Taiwan introduced three policies 10 years ago to help reduce street-side waste: 1) a per-bag trash-collection fee to discourage consumption, 2) a charge for plastic bags at supermarkets, and 3) a rigorous recycling policy. Ross says these changes “fueled a sense of civic responsibility in a place where democracy is still taking root.” (I wonder, though, whether civic responsibility can also be a palpable force of environmental awareness in non-democratic states…)

The main message of Ross’ anecdote is to be more conscientious of your consumption habits. “Reducing your ‘carbon footprint’ is a hip way to fight global warming,” she says, “but what about the trash generated by last night’s takeout?”

Before my year in Taiwan, I was a lazy environmentalist, dutifully recycling wine bottles and newspapers and opting for paper over plastic, but never willing to go the extra mile if it wasn’t convenient. It’s no longer so easy to make excuses. Living in a place where I was expected to use what I bought and recycle every last yogurt cup and juice box left me with a new appreciation for what clean streets mean in a civil society, and the realization that I’m responsible for everything I consume. That’s as good a Chinese lesson as any.

To learn more about Taiwan and recycling, check out the resources from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration.

P.S. I depart for my three-month language study in Taipei on January 2. I will be keeping a personal blog of my journey: makapahai.wordpress.com.

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