The Executive Yuan Approved the “Tribute to the Ocean - Coastal Cleaning and Maintenance Plan” in May 2020 to establish a coastal cleaning mechanism, promote waste reduction at the source, and keep the coasts clean. However, due to human and tide activities, there are still accumulations of garbage on the coasts. To remediate the problem, the EPA launched the “Safeguard the Coasts – Take Pictures and Get Green Points” event. From 1 October to 15 December of 2021, people who take pictures of clean or dirty coasts at the seaside and upload them will have chance to win 5,000 to 50,000 green points. The reported dirty sites will also be cleaned up by the jurisdiction’s coast management authority.   

The EPA explained that to solve the marine waste problem, the Executive Yuan integrated the resources of nine central ministries and commissions, and cooperated with 19 coastal local governments to designate coastal management authorities for Taiwan’s 1,988-kilometer coastline. It also established a "regular cleaning" mechanism in the Tribute to the Ocean Plan. Through the mechanism, 116, 000 metric tons of coastal waste has been cleaned up since last year (2020). In addition, a coastal cleanup information platform was set up for people to inquire about coastal management authorities and statistics on cleanup results as well as for reporting on coastal messy sites.  

To use the messy site reporting function, after people log on to the system, they only need to upload photos of messy sites on the phone, and the system will read the coordinates of the messy sites on its own and complete the reporting. It will then send the reported case to the coastal management authorities in charge, which will then send personnel to the sites to clean up within seven days to ensure coastal land is kept clean.  

The EPA said that the event lasts two and a half month starting from 1 October to 15 December 2021. If people found large accumulations of garbage on the coasts, they can participate in the coastal messiness reporting event by using the Coastal Cleanup Information Platform – Coastal Messiness Reporting Function (https://ecolife2.moenv.gov.tw/BeachCleanup/Dirty/Add), filling out basic information of the case and uploading photos showing the current messiness. Those who complete the reports may receive up to 10,000 green points.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, October 2021