Sinwu coastal cleanup during Ta Ya's Northern Region Family Day

        n the morning of the 21st, Ta Ya Group held its Northern Region Family Day at Sinwu Green Tunnel, during which more than 80 employees and family members from Ta Ya Taipei Branch, Cuprime and Cugreen Metal Tech Co., Ltd. showed up in support of the coastal cleanup. The event had been part of Ta Ya's Pristine Homeland initiative, and volunteers took count and categorized the waste they cleared in accordance with International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) practices.

        Both Cuprime and Cugreen are located within Guanyin District, Taoyuan City near Sinwu Green Tunnel. It is a popular bikeway that runs along the shorelines of Taoyuan, but the gravel beach nearby is covered with garbage. This was the reason that Ta Ya's Administration Division had chosen to organize its Family Day event here and invite group employees and family members to the cleanup.

        Led by General Manager Lee Wen-Bing of Ta Ya's Copper and New Business Group, Assistant Manager Luo Wenhe of Cuprime and General Manager Chang Minhui of Cugreen, 80 employees and family members quickly arrived their designated area for garbage cleanup. Due to the placement of ripraps along the beach, garbage tends to be stuck on the gravel beach when sea waves bring it ashore. Despite the difficulties involved, everyone seemed passionate about putting on gloves and picking out garbage with tongs. All waste picked off the beach was classified into four major categories and 19 sub-categories in accordance with ICC to facilitate further analysis. The event yielded significant results in just a little more than one hour's time, as 15 bags of garbage were cleared off the coast.

        Living and recreational waste including plastic containers, plastic bags, beverage containers and disposable utensils accounted for most of the garbage (64.45%), while cigarettes and lighters represent another 15.66%. These two types of garbage were not transferred from elsewhere, but were created as a result of nearby tourist activities. Garbage from fishery and recreational fishing accounted for 18.62%, and were suspected to be the result of fishermen's activities nearby. Among all types of garbage, broken Styrofoam was especially difficult to clear.

        At noon, Ta Ya Group Chairman Shen Shang-Hung arrived on site to join the employees for lunch. Chairman Shen said: "Pristine Homeland has been one of the group's missions, and I am very grateful for everyone who have joined the coastal cleanup and contributed to maintaining our homeland during their free time. Needless to say, our environmental education still requires some form of improvement, given the amount of garbage we have cleared from the coast."

        The rained stopped after lunch, and participants spent their afternoon traversing through the green tunnel on bicycles (and tandem bicycles).