wfn.org | TCN: Environmental awareness heats up across in Taiwan

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2990 Edition

>June 15~21, 2009

Environmental awareness heats up across in Taiwan

>Reported by staff

>Written by Lydia Ma

Taiwan will observe Summer Solstice again by encouraging citizens  to turn off their

lights and unplug their switches beginning at 8:00 p.m. on June  21st. This event is

now in its fifth year and part of a growing concern on conserving  energy and

>reducing carbon emission.

In previous years, the event included turning off the lights at  landmarks such as

Taipei 101, Taiwan Railways, Taipei City Government, and others.  Organizers are

expanding this year’s events to include members of the  community by encouraging

people to log onto www.lightsoutday.org.tw and registering to turn  off their lights at

8:00 p.m. on June 21st so that people across Taiwan can “flex  their power”. The

website allows registrants to register an address and the amount  of hours they wish

>to register.

According to Society of Wilderness Association, the theme for this  year is

“Reducing Carbon to Enjoy a Green Life”. The association  hopes to expand

previous years’ efforts this time by encouraging schools and  local communities to

participate in conserving energy and reducing carbon emission. It  advocates

building energy-saving habits, such as turning off the lights when  not in use,

encouraging outdoor activities, etc. It hopes to instill these  habits among the

populace even when Summer Solstice activities are not scheduled.

According to a contestant who won this year’s Taipei city  award on energy

conservation, installing sensors in buildings goes a long way in  reducing energy

caused by forgetfulness. Furthermore, communities can build a  habit of regularly

monitoring and recording the amount of energy consumed by their  electronic

appliances. These measures can save up to 30% of their energy  consumption or

>about $20,000 NTD in energy bills every year.

One survey conducted by a private organization revealed that, when  it comes to

environmental protection, 78% of Taiwanese automatically think of  “greenhouse

effect”. However, whether their awareness automatically  translates into responsible

behavior, such as reducing carbon emissions, remains to be seen.

Summer Solstice activities will run in every city that has a  Society of Wilderness

Association branch, including Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung,  Chiayi, Tainan,

Kaohsiung, Ilan, and Hualien. The association will send out  volunteers to promote

energy-saving lifestyles and encourage people to turn off their  lights and head

>outdoors.

In related news, the Japanese youth trekking across Taiwan to  raise awareness for

environmental protection has reached Taipei. Yuji Miyata visited  the Presbyterian

Church in Taiwan headquarter offices on the afternoon of June 10th  and was

greeted by Associate General Secretary Lyim Hong-tiong.

Seeing youth turn their ideals into action and willing to take  risks to realize these

ideals is an admirable character that cannot be learned from  textbooks, said Lyim.

He also emphasized that peace and environmental conservation are  currently

among the hottest topics worldwide. Though Taiwan also holds these  ideals, it must

practice what it believes through real actions.

Lyim gave Miyata a Bible as a memento after their meeting and  invited him to share

about his trip during a staff prayer meeting the following day.

Another fellow traveler on the road raising awareness for the  environment is Peter

Huang. Huang spent two years and 43 days riding his scooter across  Taiwan

collecting and kissing dirt from 319 different cities and towns.  He is convinced that

Taiwanese people should know how important it is to love the earth  and their

>country.

Huang arrived in Tainan on June 13th to promote a new book  detailing his travels

across Taiwan. Besides carrying a huge globe weighting 23 kg made  from recycled

paper, he also made a 110x80 cm map of Taiwan using dirt from  different parts of

the country that he had collected during his trek.

According to Huang, he was inspired by the example set by Pope  John Paul II

because the former pope used to kiss the dirt and the ground of a  country whenever

he visited for the first time as an expression of friendship.

Huang is also a member of Society of Wilderness Association and  was greeted

warmly by the association upon his arrival to Tainan. The  association invited him to

share about his trip at its branch in Tainan and also gave Huang  t-shirts and

scarves with SOW’s logo emblazoned on them to celebrate this  special occasion.

Now that Huang has finished making his map of Taiwan, he hopes to  continue on by

collecting dirt from 195 countries and make a world map on behalf  of all 6.7 billion

people living on the planet. He hopes to present this special map  to the United

Nations on October 24th of 2045 as a congratulatory gift when the  UN celebrates its

>centenary.

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