Finding Sustainability in Taiwan
I am spending the last summer term of my two-year
graduate programme away from my university in Graz. Instead, I returned once more to my second home: Taiwan.
While I didn't exactly need any additional workload - on top of writing
my Master's thesis, my plans of playing the Saxophone more, dancing and exploring the greenery around Taipei - I was tempted by the opportunity to spread the word
about sustainable practices happening in Taiwan.
Highlighting good impact
Walking down the streets of Taipei I choose to look at things through 'sustainability glasses'. Indeed, I have already come across many sustainable solutions which have evolved in the context of Taiwanese consumption habits, traditional practices, modern technology and globalized sustainable ideas. For each post on The Sustainery I will pick one aspect of life in Taiwan and show initiatives and practices that are creating a good impact. Thus, I hope to spread the knowledge about sustainable practices and highlight achievements.
Susainability is everywhere
Before digging deeper into sustainability in Taiwan I would like to share some inspiring people and practices I have already come across and which have found their way onto my Instagram account @begomaniac.I have grown fond of alleys in the cities of Taiwan. None of these narrow and organically shaped alleys is like any other. Since urban appartments rarely come with a garden, residents have found an alternative way of adding some green: pots of flowers, plants or even vegetables piled up along streets and walls. I really appreciate this effort to use the little space available to add some green to the urban scape.
Four years ago I was an exchange student at National Taiwan University. The university has a lovely campus with old and new brick buildings and a big variety of plants and open green spaces. The other weekend students of the agricultural department organised a market showcasing agricultural and other green products and initiatives. I used this opportunity to stroll around the lovely campus and discover a number of sustainble initiatives from Taiwan. I especially liked the food-saving heros from Pick Food Up. This group has established partnerships with food retailers and receives high quality ingredients that for some reason or the other are not meant to be sold anymore, but are still totally fine. To proove the point that a lot of food is wasted in vain, they create pretty nutritious deliciousness out of "waste". Just look at these mouth-watering examples: a savory asparagus truffles cake, a kumquat carrot cake and a mini banana chocolate bundt cake.
Cute mascots are big in Taiwan. I think German government agencies could do with some more of this kind of cuteness.
A nice area to chillout for a bit, if you are in Taipei's busy east district, is '44 South Village' (四四南村). Many of the roofs of the old rows of military homes have been greened and can be used as a picnic spot or a photo opportunity with the iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper in the background. One of the old military homes hosts a café, which is where I spotted this upcycling gem. Sticking with the theme, the design shop in the same building also sells products upcycled from common waste materials in Taiwan.
Many empty lots are officially or inofficially turned into urban gardens. It seems like a significant amount of residents is seeking opportunities for growing and harvesting their own produce. I will come back to the topic of urban gardens in Taipei in one of my following posts.
For me, more than anything else, these examples show that the vocabulary of sustainabilty is already present in the everyday life in Taiwan. Let's let it evolve and scale it up!
What's up next?
Taiwan sports the highes density of convenience stores in the world (one per 2,304 residents! via focus taiwan). Milk tea shops and street food stalls cannot only be found on the many nightmarkets, but also on most major streets. Therefore, in my next post I will be addressing one potential core feature of life in Taiwan in more detail: convenience food and drinks. More precisely solutions to the waste associated with it.I am happy to have you as my guest on this journey of finding sustainability in Taiwan!
Julian
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