Taiwan is trashy. In a good way.

Lilli Hime, Taiwan, Yunlin ETA 2019-2020

At Fulbright Taiwan’s newest site, we Yunlin English Teaching Assistants have gotten our feet wet not just in the classroom but also at the beach. As part of our promise to go beyond the classroom and into the community, on September 28th we joined a local beach clean up organized by Fenghsi Food Company and Bliss Wisdom Association to help remove trash washed up on the Yunlin coast. 

For the past few months, we’ve found ourselves in a crash course of Taiwan culture, experiencing how this little island (with a BIG personality) functions on a day to day basis. But I don’t think any of us expected trash to be such an integral part of our daily lives.

During our first few months, we’ve learned about how to sort our trash, memorized (okay, we’re still memorizing) the days of the week that the trash and recycling truck comes, and even gotten pretty good at composting. Jumping up to the tune of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (which our trash truck plays dutifully) has become routine, as has seeing our entire building empty out in front of the building to catch the garbage trucks. This mundane ritual becomes a brief community gathering everyday centered around something I had not expected: trash. 

Due to a few simple habits and a quick couple minutes each day from its residents, Taiwan has a mindful and mature culture around how it takes out its trash and thus, how it cares for our planet. Taiwan’s trash culture is one that exemplifies community and the power of small, individual actions lending to a great difference.

As we worked with locals to pick up trash in the ocean, I couldn’t help but think about how it was pretty cool to see both sides of Taiwan’s work to care for its environment: the preventative measures of sorting and recycling everyday, as well as the work after; even when trash found its way into places we didn’t want it, the community still came out to help. In Taiwan, trash is not an individual’s afterthought, but a moment of the community’s mindfulness. 

Scroll down for pictures of our clean up that morning.

Armed with gloves, tongs, and trash or recycling bags, Yunlin’s fearless founding eight (sans one with a PTA meeting that morning) take to the pier.

Our ETA’s aren’t the only ones working hard. Thank you to the Taiwan Coast Guard for their hard work to protect the waters.

To be honest, it’s not a lot of trash. But it also doesn’t take a lot of work to learn and practice proper recycling. Maybe by working together, little by little we can begin to make a bigger difference, the Taiwanese way.