For the second year running, the Subs team based in Taiwan will join the 4th annual Taiwan National Cleanup Day, a nationwide cleanup simultaneously held at 22 locations across Taiwan's coastlines.
This event attracts a large number of volunteers that are naturally interested in making a positive impact on their local environment and businesses with a focus on sustainability and recycling.
Last year more than 600 volunteers were able to remove 8,602 kg of marine debris from 22 locations Taiwan-wide and our own crew, of 106 volunteers, were able to do a pretty large chunk of that total, removing a whopping 2,659 kg just from our beach alone.
Members of APO - Taiwan Alumni Association join Subs on Taiwan National Cleanup Day 2019, at Da'an Beach, Taichung.
The beach is called Da'an in Taichung County and is actually one of the closest stretches of beach to Taichung City that isn't just mudflats, Taichung Port, the (world's largest and most polluting) coal power plant or a place for fishing boats to dock. It is a really wide sandy beach with wind turbines in every visible direction along the coast. The water is too shallow for swimming, but it's a good place to go for outdoor activities like walking dogs or RC racing. But sadly, it is strewn with plastic debris that mostly washes in from fishing boats in the Taiwan straight, and likely directly from China.
Volunteers chilling and enjoying the spotlight after a record haul of 2,659 kg of marine debris removed at Da'an Beach, Taichung on Taiwan National Cleanup Day, May 2019.
We conduct multiple beach-cleans at this location yearly, and this event is by far the biggest that we do and the time where we will make the most impact. Despite our continual efforts, every time we go back it is covered again, in the same kind of fishing waste and plastic items carelessly discarded by fishermen and consumers over the other side of the Strait.