Artist Helps Clean Up Hometown With Beach Money
An artist in southern Taiwan's Xiaoliuqiu is painting "beach coins" to help raise awareness for the importance of keeping the island clean. After three years, her beach money project has helped clean up eight tons of trash.
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00:00 Gently, one stroke at a time.
00:03 This is Ling Peiyu, a local artist in Xiaoliuqiu, an island paradise off the east coast of Taiwan.
00:10 Today, Ling is not making art for art's sake, but something with a practical purpose - beach
00:15 money.
00:16 And this is just one of some 2,500 coins she's made.
00:21 Its purpose - to solve the island's trash problem.
00:23 "The idea came from a Japanese shipyard. We hope to use the beach money to help people
00:30 get to know the environment and to help people start from the beginning, instead of just
00:37 going to the beach."
00:40 Xiaoliuqiu introduced beach money in 2017.
00:43 It's a special currency made from used gloss that's hand-painted by Ling.
00:47 It cannot be bought, but only exchanged for trash collected on the island at clean-up
00:52 events.
00:53 "I've been collecting beach money since the beginning. I think it's a beautiful currency,
00:59 so I go to their events. The more you collect, the more money you get."
01:08 Many people participate in clean-ups, just to collect Ling Peiyu's gorgeous and distinctive
01:12 artwork.
01:13 "Each piece has its own uniqueness. Even if it's the same pattern, the glass is different
01:21 in size and shape. Each piece is hand-painted."
01:25 But the coins can in fact be used as actual money at over 100 local businesses on the
01:30 island.
01:31 "It's this simple. I use the beach money I have here to nearby business and purchase
01:36 a select item.
01:37 "Hello, what can I exchange for this?"
01:38 "This can be exchanged for a box of silkworms."
01:39 "I'll take one, thank you."
01:40 "And voila, just like that, I get a meal without spending a dime."
01:49 The local businesses taking part in the project include hotels, beverage stands, entertainment
01:54 venues and restaurants.
01:56 "The environmental awareness of the small-scale fishing is rising. We are concerned about
02:03 the environmental issues. We have a chance to meet the person in charge of the marine
02:10 swimming, and they have proposed this plan. We feel that we must support it. We want to
02:16 do as much as we can in our own way."
02:25 Ling says it's important to start learning about environmental issues early in life.
02:30 She often brings her students to clean up beaches to show them what trash ends up there
02:34 and what more needs to be done.
02:36 "I picked up the trash, and I threw it in the trash can, the straw, the plastic trash."
02:43 "It's meaningful, and it teaches us how to protect the ocean."
02:50 Xiaoliuqiu is less than seven square kilometers in size, with around 13,000 residents. During
02:56 summer, up to 14,000 tourists might visit the island each day, outnumbering the locals.
03:02 "It's a huge pressure for an island. If we can reduce it, we can reduce it. Sometimes
03:11 we can't avoid it. We can't avoid it. There are things that we can recycle and reuse.
03:16 We can increase the cycle of life of the trash."
03:20 In the last three years, the Beach Manning Project has cleaned up over eight tons of
03:24 trash on the island, with the help of thousands of volunteers. It's hoped that this special
03:30 currency will help both residents and visitors understand the importance of keeping the island
03:35 clean, and working together to turn the tide on trash.
03:39 Scott Huang and Zaini Qi for Taiwan Plus.
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