Protect the environment with Delta volunteers

I chanced upon a video “Zero Waste Lifestyle” on the internet, which left a deep impression on me. It describes how a lady from the United States, Lauren Singer, who graduated from environmental studies at New York University, implements the environmental protection philosophies that she learnt from school and changes the relationship between human and environment. She began her journey of Zero Waste Lifestyle, producing less than a glass bottle of trash in five years. It makes me realize that to implement environmental protection, we have to start from ourselves and should not burden the earth further.

Let’s take this opportunity to experience energy conservation and carbon reduction, and practice waste reduction for a day.
Exhibit of the trash generated by Singer, which are mainly unrecyclable items such as plastic straws, desiccant, paper wrapper, etc (source: trashisfortosser IG)

1.Energy-saving tips for daily life

Have you ever wondered which household electrical device has the highest power consumption?

In summer, air-conditioning consumes the highest electricity. Without proper control, the electricity bills could burst your budget. I’ll normally set the temperature to 28℃ and let the air circulate with the help of a fan to maintain comfortable body temperature. In addition, I clean the air filter every month to prevent accumulating too much dirt and wasting electricity.

During winter, electric water heater and electric air pot have the highest power consumption. According to the statistics of the Bureau of Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the monthly power consumption of an electric air pot may exceed that of a large refrigerator. Take a small household for example, they may consume hot water about 3 to 5 times per day, but the water dispenser or electric air pot require 24 hours of operation in order to maintain the temperature for the hot and cold water, consuming a lot of electricity. Hence, I will install a timer on the socket or heat up the water manually where necessary, instead of maintaining high temperature at all times. 

Cultivating good power consumption habit is very important. According to a test by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), standby power is about 7.4% of household electricity consumption, including the indicator lights of television / computer, set-top box or wireless base station (AP), microwave with time indicator, air-conditioning or dehumidifier with indoor temperature and humidity indicators, etc. If we switch off the power of these electrical appliances with standby function or use independent power switch, it is possible to save a thousand NTD of electricity bill in a year.

independent power switches for household appliances such as electric air pot,dehumidifier, electric fan, TV set-top box, etc

2.Environmental protection program with reduction of plastics

Statistical reports show that people of Taiwan use an average of more than 782 plastic bags per year, four times that of Europe. There have also been recent reports of turtles being stuck with plastic items such as straws, sparking different environmental issues. This reminds me of attending meetings in other companies, where bottles of mineral water are placed on the meeting table, leaving behind a big bag of empty bottles trash at the end of the meeting, and I felt quite disturbed by it. I keep reminding myself to cut down on disposable tableware and plastic items, and bring my own shopping bag, reusable chopsticks, and water bottle. I also bring my own cup when buying soy milk for my breakfast and try not to buy bottled water and beverages. Such actions will reduce a lot of rubbish over a period of time. 

In addition, for household cleaning, I’ll use environment-friendly washing products such as replacing laundry detergent and dish detergent with bitter tea powder, using environment-friendly washing powder, etc. Such behavior requires great determination in order to persist.

Bring my own reusable cup, shopping bag and cutlery, do not use disposable chopsticks andstraw when eating out, and use environment-friendly cleaning products

3.Promotion of energy education

In the past, I did not put much thought into it, but now, I’ll think about the problems behind consumption behavior, which makes me realize that environmental protection starts from small areas, producing big changes over time. I hope to influence my colleagues and friends with this philosophy. What should I do in order to set an example? I believe that education is a very good start. After joining Delta Foundation, I began to accumulate many stories that can relate to people and also get to know a lot of friends who spare no effort in contributing to environmental protection. 

The Foundation organizes energy volunteer training every year, attracting volunteers from Taoyuan, Chungli, Tainan, and even Shanghai and Thailand. We led the students in learning about energy usage of the surrounding, starting from climate change and global warming. With the knowledge in energy and green buildings, we do blocks building and gradually let the students understand they can implement energy conservation and carbon reduction after the lesson, and then to the whole campus and at home. We believe the environmental education will produce good results.

The two trips that left me with deep impressions were at Tainan’s Yongan Elementary School and Kaohsiung’s Namaxia Elementary School, which are both built with green building campuses. The students have cultivated energy-saving behavior with the influence of the environment and the teachers. The teaching activities that the Foundation planned are green building-related. Groups of different ages attended the course and played games, and the students can learn about energy saving in a more structured manner. Through picture books making, e-books, and augmented reality, we hope to increase the influence of the energy teachings. Every energy-saving action and every story in the process records the effort of the teachers and students. I feel that this is a big step for me in promotion of the environmental education.

Energy education volunteers – guiding children in learning about energy andimplementing energy conservation and carbon reduction

“Environmental Protection” is not only a habit, but an attitude towards life. We are too used to convenient lifestyle, that we forget about “change”. With the above stories about energy saving in household, plastic reduction program, energy education promotion, etc., we’d like to invite you to join us in protecting the environment that we live in.

Reference / 
1.Why I live a zero waste life | Lauren Singer | TEDxTeen  https://youtu.be/pF72px2R3Hg
2.NY woman’s 5 years of zero waste lifestyle, [Amazing World News] Lauren Singer  https://youtu.be/cCuvx3d12N
3.Energy saving tips Q & A, Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs  https://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/ecw/populace/content/Content.aspx?menu_id=462
4.Plastic takes away our earth and health, Taiwan Environmental Information Association  https://teia.tw/zh-hant/content/5967