Taiwan's old name, and one still associated with the fine tea that is still a major Taiwanese export, is Formosa. Apparently it was given to the island by the Portuguese, who were one of the first Western countries to reach this far. The name 'Formosa' is supposed to mean 'Beautiful Island.' If those same sailors were to have seen present day Taiwan, a name with the connotation 'Dump Island' might have been the first name on their minds.

Sadly Taiwan is not the beautiful island it once used to be. It is small, with a large part being unusable for living. It has a population of just over twenty million, bigger than Australia. And while not a first World nation it has an economy many countries dream of. Of course the fact that a large part of its population can across in the fifties as refugees running from the communists, and that they brought along with them a lot of wealth with which to build the country's economy is not relevant. What is relevant is that Taiwan quickly became over populated and industrially orientated in a short time. Taiwan became rich through manufacture and exploitation, and suffered heavily from the resulting pollution.

For a 'Beautiful Island' and one on which many Taiwanese depend for their vacation and weekend entertainment you would think the Taiwanese would take some pride in their country and take care of it. But Taiwan is one large trash heap. There are few places where you cannot find garbage lying about spoiling the scenery. Other counties have heavy fines and strict law enforcement to stop litter, but here no one gives a damn. I have sometimes speculated it is some cultural trait of the Chinese. Not a fair thing to say about my hosts, but the Chinese are often more self-centered then other cultures. The Chinese look after themselves first and let nature take care of itself. As if from birth, children are brought up not to care and look after their environment. Dropping litter in the street, throwing it from your car and just leaving it everywhere happens all the time and children quickly learn the same.

The fact that no one shows the slightest interest in stopping the litter is sad. It can only be put down to the cultural precedent of people looking after themselves and collectively leaving the problem of caring of the environment to 'Other People.' Of course, if you asked the average person on the street, should the government start cleaning up the country, the average person would say it was a good idea. If you asked the average person should the government raise taxes to fund the cleaning-up of the island you might get a different answer.

Strange enough many Taiwanese complain that other Asian countries are dirty. Hong Kong, a favorite shopping destination, is not a clean place, yet I have seen less litter on the pavements there. In fact I can see the pavement, which is a delight since in Taiwan I spend the majority of my time walking in the road because the pavement is blocked with motor scooters and merchandise. Singapore is praised though for its cleanliness, but Taiwan would be the same if there were stricter laws and strong law enforcement.

For an industrialized nation, which is quickly becoming high tech and service sector, Taiwan needs to do something about its garbage. Taiwan's manufacturing base is moving abroad, mostly to the Mainland, so the problems of pollution will go with it. The semi-skilled labour that relied on the industry will find its job market dwindle. Taiwan will need to promote other job markets. Tourism will be one of those markets, but it will never pick up to a great extent unless Taiwan can be cleaned up. The home tourism market will still be there, but it is always getting cheaper to go abroad. Taiwan can promote itself to the North American market as a gateway to Asia, but it will suffer from an image problem of being nice but dirty, if something is not done quickly, it will be an image problem that will be hard to shrug off in the future.

A lot of Taiwan's litter comes from the excessive packaging that comes with everything you buy. Presentation boxes are very popular and are often twice the size of the goods inside. When going to a friend's house, or visiting a person, people like to take a gift. For this reason stores have presentation boxes for almost anything; fruit, biscuits, wine, beer, coffee, snakes, etc. All the items in the box will come individual wrapped and carefully mounted on a tray and the tray will be inside a box which will invariable be inside another box which if not equipped with carrying handles will have to be but into a bag to make carrying convenient. The whole effect is similar to a Russian house of dolls.

Also Taiwanese favor a lot of disposable items over reusable. Eating utensils are a good example. Many Taiwanese prefer to use throwaway bamboo chopsticks instead of plastic, wooden or metal ones; they are not as clean as the disposable ones and less hassle to wash. The same can to said for bowls and plates. Small places often use throwaway polystyrene bowls and paper plates.

To handle all the waste in Taiwan the sanitation department has a fleet of garbage trucks that cruise the streets in the evening collecting the day's trash. The majority of this trash is either incinerated or tipped in landfills. Trash collection is in itself a messy business and a lot of the trash does not make the hazardous trip to the trucks. The trash is usual in thin plastic bags, which often rip open while they are being manhandled, or are pre-ripped by hunger animals. Trash that spills out onto the streets has to be swept up by the public and bagged for the next collection. During public holidays the trash might have to wait a few days.

Some waste, such as building waste and commercial rubbish, is not collected by the sanitation department. Such material has to lie around the premises of those who make it. When time comes for the rubbish to be moved, it will be loaded onto a truck and taken to a tipping area. Tipping areas are easy to find in Taiwan any secluded place where the tipper is not going to be seen is a good place. Many quiet lanes are useful places for leaving building rubble and old mattresses. In fact different places become useful for tipping different goods. Small fishponds are favorite places for broken down scooters, cars favor just being left where they died, kitchen appliances at road junctions, etc.

Community minded burning of trash by the public is a common thing. Though how much this is due to the offenders being community minded and how much it is due to the love of seeing things burn is another matter. Near where I live, there is a large metal skip used for collecting household rubbish prior to being carted off by the garbage trucks. It often fills up completely and bags of trash will be piled against it. A public-spirited old gentleman would regularly set light to the trash in the skip to make more room for trash. The smell of burning garbage, half of which is paper and plastic, was always something to appreciate. In the end, less public spirited, residents stopped the old mans fun.

Other fire minded people find quiet spots to burn their trash. Another area neighboring where I live is a popular spot. A large industrial park, a favorite spot for tipping soil, is dotted with burnt patches where trash burners set up their pyres and set some trash alight. Trash burners have a tendency to try to burn just about anything, the number of times I have seen smoldering heaps of trash half made up of bathroom porcelain is too numerous to remember.

For large factories and companies who find it difficult to dump their waste, especially if it is toxic, there is a way out. Just export it to another county and hope no one finds out. This has been rather popular recently, but the dumped on countries having been raising a stink about it and sending the waste back. Therefore, my old neighbor is going to have a lot of work on his hands at the industrial park for the next few weeks.

Not everything in Taiwan is recklessly thrown away. Recycling in Taiwan is a common thing. Chinese culture has aborted the idea of recycling for thousands of years. Collecting slops for pigs and composting is used in the countryside by many people, not so easy for city dwellers though. Collecting other rubbish is not so prevalent, but I have seen a large number of elderly people collecting cardboard and tin cans, so someone must be recycling those materials. Public recycling points, common to many Western supermarkets, are rare in Taiwan. But with time, and financial incentives, they can be a common sight.

Secondhand goods are not so popular here. I have noticed a certain lack of thrift stores in Taiwan. But since a lot of clothes can be bought dirt-cheap anyway why go to a secondhand store. Secondhand appliances are not so easy to come across either, possible people run things into the ground before buying something new, or things do not last that long anyway. Taiwan is well-known for its high quality exports, but since it is a buyer beware market here, things are not that reliable.

Local community groups do on occasion run events to clean up their streets. They are good natured and public minded events, and do a lot for the promotion of a cleaner Taiwan, but, as can be imagined, they only have transient affects on the streets. As with many of Taiwan's problems the events are only short term remedies and do not solve the intrinsic fault, which is the inherent litterbug tendency of the mass of the population. Public education is needed along with public support. Littering needs to be associated with insulting the country and the community. People will not litter if they know they run the risk of angering the people around them.

Some groups promote the care of the community out of public and economic spirit. Many of the burger chains that do good business in Taiwan promote anti-litter campaigns. They do not want their food containers to lay around the streets. Thought since a lot of the chains are franchises, I do not think they are as strong in their spirit as they are in other countries, such as Hong Kong. Some foreign community groups voluntarily clean up the local streets. Many of the Thai workers, who live in Taiwan to work in the factories as cheap labour, gave up one of their day's off to celebrate the birthday of their Queen by picking up litter in the streets.

Coming from a seaside resort back home, one of the places I miss is the seaside. For me the seaside is a wonderful place to enjoy the fresh sea breeze and walk on the beach or promenade. I was sadly disappointed on my first visit to the seaside in Taiwan. I thought it would be a great day out. Taiwan straddles the Tropic of Cancer, so the seas should be warm and a favorite place for people to go to escape the grim and pollution of the cities. In fact the reverse was true. The seaside was a place to leave for the city in the hope of escaping the grim and pollution. The beaches and harbor areas were collection areas for oil stained flotsam and jetsam, tangled bunches of netting, and dumping areas for broken down boats. The idea of swimming in that muck was and continues to be a terrible idea. The sight of the seaside here is one of my strongest reasons for not wanting to live here in the long term. When the Portuguese saw Taiwan this was not the sight that met their eyes, I only hope that my children do not have to see the same.