Fyi, Taiwan’s waste per capita is similar to South Korea and Japan.
Australia, Canada, the US etc. are the popular blondes in high school that eat “clean” but smoke lines of coke every night, then go around laughing at poorer, unluckier kids (like Taiwan) in class for dressing like a pauper.
This part. It weakens your argument. You’re saying it’s a class issue that Taiwan has pollution. It’s a choice and Taiwan could do something about it. The laws are written they just need enforcement.
Overall, somehow, yes. Yet most people I know in the US don’t produce that much weekly garbage waste. But I won’t deny that Americans are incredibly wasteful overall. Somehow, most people I knew/know in the States are incredibly conscious about everything they buy, grow their own food, buy most things from thrift shops or borrow or just do without… and I grew up in rich white people suburbs. But thrifting was “cool”.
Also, I don’t have to deal with the stench of the trash truck daily, nor do I need to be woken up from naps because of the trash truck music because of American shopping and trashing habits. I like that TW makes you pay by the bag instead of taxing everyone, but I’d rather pay more in taxes than have to deal with the trash truck daily when I only need it once a month.
I would love for people to pay per pound of trash and have to personally deliver their trash to pick up points so I don’t have to see trash collection ever. I’d also like to see tickets written for people who recklessly throw their trash wherever, which they do, but we don’t see because there are a LOT more 阿姨s out there picking up after them than you have in other countries. Also, rather than giving people NT$10 discounts for bringing their own straws (which you rarely need) but only NT$1 discounts for bringing their own cups, shops should focus on some sort of container share system. (In the US, it was 30 cent discount to a free drink if you bring your own container preCOVID. That’s an incentive if you order coffee daily). If any culture could succeed in doing that, it’s TW. But right now they’re too focused on being better than everyone else because of their trash collection as it is now
It totally is a class (and race) issue. Most industrial pollution in third world countries is the direct result of wealthy, first world countries outsourcing their industry for cheap labour, cheap land, and lax environmental laws. Rich countries exploiting poor countries is a tale as old as time. Companies from Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, America, Britain etc. have all had massive scandals where their business operation completely destroyed the livelihood and the environment of third world countries. E.g. Shell’s oil spill in Nigeria and the factory collapse in Bangladesh. And the government of these poor countries wouldn’t do jackshit because it’s basically the only advantage they have to attract investments. If they had the same labour and environmental protection the foreign investments would simply move to another shithole country without any of those.
Taiwan used to be in the same position, though it has become part of the oppressor, but that is more recent so there are still ramnants from the history of being exploited.
Do you mean each person in countries with more land piece per person should have a right to emit more polluted gas than each person in countries with less land piece per person?
Because a country with the high population will have more pollution.
Per capita is a good relative measure but it is misleading. Since the environment will not care who polluted but how much pollution is added. Every country should be doing their best to reduce pollution.
Most of Australia’s pollution is exported in the form of coal and natural gas.
I don’t think this is very relevant to dealing with our local problems in Taiwan. …What’s more relevant is that we should not be importing coal here if at all possible.
Why would anyone burn trash on their roof if the rubbish system was convenient?
If you have lived in an old building where you have to use the public pick up vans vs a new one where you have actual bins on sight to put your trash at anytime you will notice the huge difference in convenience. I will never live in a place in taiwan that i have to use the public vans again. And as for the public bins, taiwan simply needs them. Take a walk around banqiao station at the weekend, they have about 4 public bins left and they look like a bomb site at the weekend.
