{"id":64815,"date":"2024-01-18T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T13:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=64815"},"modified":"2024-12-16T17:08:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T16:08:50","slug":"a-perspective-from-greenpeace-east-asia-taipei-volunteers-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/64815\/a-perspective-from-greenpeace-east-asia-taipei-volunteers-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"A perspective from Greenpeace East Asia Taipei volunteers: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cBack in my days, the ocean was a mystery. We only saw the peace and calm on the surface, not knowing the floor was full of trash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Currently 68 years old, retiree Wei Chang has joined Greenpeace as a volunteer 3 years ago. During these 3 years, Wei learned all about the current state of the ocean unbeknownst to him for the previous 65 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>3 years ago, Wei met an environmental education and fundraising agent at a supermarket. After learning that Greenpeace does not accept any corporate donations, Wei joined to become a donor on the spot and began his journey with Greenpeace.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-1024x684.jpeg\" title=\"Greenpeace activists holding banners in front of Px-Mart, a supermarket chainstore in Taiwan\" alt=\"Greenpeace activists holding banners in front of Px-Mart, a supermarket chainstore in Taiwan\" class=\"wp-image-64824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-2048x1367.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-2046x1366.jpeg 2046w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/937ca13b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5168\u806f-510x340.jpeg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Greenpeace activists presented the petition supported by more than 140,000 consumers to one of the supermarket chainstore, Px-Mart, requesting plastic reduction at source. <div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Through the member\u2019s newsletter, Wei found out about the recruitment of volunteers. Wei had wanted to devote his retirement life doing something meaningful, and so he began his journey as a volunteer. <\/p>\n\n<p>The first Greenpeace event he participated in was at the exhibition of \u201cTaking and Trapping the Fish\u201d, which was a 10-day exhibition held in August 2020 at Huashan 1914 Creative Park. The exhibition was created looked like a crime scene to illustrate the hardships and exploitations faced by the workers of offshore fishing.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm-1024x681.png\" title=\"A room with clothes hanging off a bunk bed and orange cones on the floor next to a body outline created using tape\" alt=\"A room with clothes hanging off a bunk bed and orange cones on the floor next to a body outline created using tape\" class=\"wp-image-64820\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm-1024x681.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm-300x199.png 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm-768x510.png 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm-510x340.png 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/110be7cd-screenshot-2024-01-18-at-8.46.48-pm.png 1163w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Greenpeace East Asia Taipei office hosted the exhibition named \u201cTaking and Trapping the Fish\u201d at Huashan1914 Creative Park, uncovering the exploitation of offshore fishing workers with crime scenes. <div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Wei was responsible for giving tours and introducing the exhibition. During these tours, he also gained deeper understanding on the issue surrounding the exploitation of offshore fishing workers. After the event, Wei continued to devote himself to different volunteer activities, actively participating in the environmental movement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Through the volunteer training offered by Greenpeace East Asia office, he not only learned more about ocean conservation and plastic reduction, but also realised that the scale of ocean trash was beyond his wildest imagination.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t think this problem concerns us because we have limited understanding of the issue,\u201d Wei stated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Wei actively volunteered to lobby for the ratification of the Ocean Conservation Act, where he gave speeches on the street, passed out flyers, and made calls to legislators. He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to not only learn more about environmental issues but also different ways of civic engagement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Despite being able to talk about environmental issues to the public on the street, he faces challenges communicating with his own family. He thinks that the younger generation lacks the sense of urgency about the ocean as long as they can see fish on the table.\u00a0Not everyone is aware of the tremendous amount of trash suffocating the ocean and the threat of extinction facing the ocean creatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>One of the latest volunteer work he has done was in June 2023 when Wei joined the \u201cCitizen Scientist Fish Survey\u201d project and\u00a0 recorded the different types of fish found in harbours. Even though the work was quite hot and tiring, Wei thought that it was well worth the effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-768x1024.jpg\" title=\"An elderly man bending over a plastic basket full of fish\" alt=\"An elderly man bending over a plastic basket full of fish\" class=\"wp-image-64823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-1025x1366.jpg 1025w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-255x340.jpg 255w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wei would conduct fish surveys at the fish market on weekends, committed to learning new things even at retirement. <div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>\u201cMy biggest wish is for The Ocean Conservation Act to be passed and be strictly enforced by the government. What a great change that it could bring!\u201d Wei exclaimed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>&nbsp;It is never too late to take action for the environment. As long as we have the will to learn, act, and change, we all are capable of protecting the environment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>If you also hear the silent cries of the environment, feel weary about the future of our planet, or would like to learn more about the environment and take action, Greenpeace sincerely invites you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/join\/volunteer\/\">join our volunteer group<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/join\/volunteer\/\">Greenpeace volunteer group<\/a> is a group of strong and caring people from all walks of life, dedicated to standing up for the environment. We believe that together we can bring stronger and more positive change.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Claudia Lim is Community Outreach Intern at Greenpeace East Asia Taipei.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBack in my days, the ocean was a mystery, and we only saw the peace and calm on the surface, not knowing the floor was full of trash.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":64824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2024\/01\/0c2d5f8b-\u6c5f\u5dcd_\u5176\u4ed6\u71673-scaled.jpg","p4_og_image_id":"64823","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70,73],"tags":[67,85],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-64815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-consumption","tag-oceans","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64960,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64815\/revisions\/64960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64815"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=64815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}