Turn out lights for Earth Day: EPA

Wearing a necktie of tissue made from recycled plastic bottles, Winston Dang called for people to turn off their lights and elevators for one hour on Earth Day to show Taiwan’s ambition to participate in the international event.

For every person who does so, 0.25 kg of CO2 emissions can be reduced, so that if 1 million people do so, the CO2 emission reduction would reach 250,000 kg, which is the quantity of CO2 absorbed by more than 20,000 trees in one year, according to Dang.

“We hope to make the one-day activity more frequent in the future,” he said.

“It is necessary to begin the movement with public institutions,” he went on, adding that the EPA has already begun to save natural resources by turning out its lights for an hour each day, banning the use of paper cups and limiting the use of elevators.

He also encouraged people to buy food produced locally instead of imported produce, to open the window rather than turn on the air conditioner, to stop using disposable tableware and to avoid purchasing goods with too much packaging.

Displaying a pedometer he was wearing, Dang also promoted walking and using public transportation rather than driving private vehicles.

The minister went on foot from the EPA building to the press conference, which took place in an elementary school 500 meters away, while some EPA officials went by car.

Also that day, the EPA launched a Web site on Earth Day, providing information and activities about the event, as well as suggestions on saving energy.

“Although Taiwan is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, we can still do our best to reduce the effects of global warming,” said Dang, adding that Taiwan “might be the first country to enact regulations concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases.”

A draft of greenhouse gas reduction regulations, approved by the Cabinet in 2006, is still being revised by legislators.

Earth Day was initiated in the United States in the 1970s, the period during which the consumption of leaded fuel was at its peak, with the aim of enhancing awareness of environmental protection. It became an international event in 1990 with the participation of 141 countries worldwide, including Taiwan.

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