Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Article Index
Maintaining the Natural Beauty of Penghu
Tourists and Garbage in NIAOYU
An Old Veteran in MAGONG
All Pages

Penghu County, located off the southwestern coast of Taiwan, covers an archipelago that consists of 64 isles of different sizes. People call them "the Chrysanthemum Islands" or "the Wind Islands" and liken them to "a string of emerald pearls strewn on the sea" to extol their unpolluted natural beauty. White sandy beaches, blue coasts, columnar basalt formations, and fields blanketed with blooming wild daisies make the archipelago a charmingly attractive place to visit.

Salty winds from the sea blow across Penghu County all year long, stunting the growth of crops. Unable to live by agriculture, the residents make their livelihood from the sea. Since living off the sea depends on the quirks of nature, life is not easy for the Penghu people. Fortunately, the beautiful scenery of the islands has allowed tourism to flourish, bringing in money for the locals.

Tourism has helped support the local economy, but it has also changed the scenery and ecology of the islands. As sightseers throng to Penghu, the increasing amount of garbage mars the breathtaking landscape of the Chrysanthemum Islands.

Not wanting to stand by and watch their homeland being inundated by garbage, a group of locals are working to restore the beauty of Penghu. They pick up PET bottles stuck in the cracks of rocks, gather used cardboard boxes, and set up recycling bins for tourists to throw empty bottles in. They also sort out the recyclables and transport them, by truck or by boat, to collection centers.

Rolling up their sleeves, bending down, picking up one discarded bottle after another--these people are recreating a Penghu with untainted landscape and a clean, sparkling sea. In the following pages, we will report on the recycling efforts of the people (focusing on two places--Niaoyu and Magong), and see how they try to make a difference in the world with their seemingly insignificant but actually immensely important actions.