Shocked by the proliferation of advertising banners and flags and the government’s ineffectiveness at reducing plastic waste, Chung Yuan Christian University students have launched a campaign to turn discarded flags into objects of value and educate youngsters about environmental sustainability.
It is a school tradition that students volunteer with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to create campaigns for the groups, and this year’s volunteers came from several departments, including business management, product design and electronic engineering, the Taoyuan-based university said.
The volunteers organize activities aimed at a variety of objectives, including reduction of plastic waste, waste recycling, food banking and providing services to Aboriginal communities, the university said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ho Chia-yun (何佳昀), a senior majoring in business management, said that Beautiful Taiwan Care Association — the environmental group she volunteered for — discovered that Taiwan produces more than 1 million advertising flags annually, most of which are burned after being used for an average of two weeks.
Burning banners and flags emits a large amount of toxic pollutants, including dioxins, and poses a major threat to the environment and to humans, she said, which motivated her to launch a project to recycle such flags.
She has cofounded a brand, uni-r, with the association, to produce cloth and doll stuffing made from recycled banners, she said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
She has also visited elementary schools to teach students how to make postcards from old banners.
One group of volunteers collaborated with the Taiwan Watch Institute to promote the idea of plastic-waste reduction, they said.
Student Ko Ya-ling (柯雅齡) said that the government has broken its vow to reduce plastic waste, as is evident from even a quick glimpse at the nation’s beaches and night markets.
The group created several public relations campaigns, including distributing posters, releasing homemade videos online and organizing a flash mob at Taoyuan’s Jhongli Night Market (中壢夜市), during which students pretended to faint in a crowd to reinforce the idea that “toxicity is invisible,” they said.
“Students are creative, and they have come to understand the true meaning of environmental protection through the process [of working with our group],” Taiwan Watch Institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said.
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