ESG News

Beach cleaning can also be done by visually impaired students! Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, which makes marine environmental education particularly important. Visually impaired students should not be excluded due to their visual impairments. How can they participate in beach cleaning if they can’t see? It’s easy—Novatek volunteers serve as their eyes! Under the volunteers’ guidance, high school students from Taichung School for the Visually Impaired, visually impaired students from Changhua’s inclusive education elementary and middle schools, and members of the Taichung Visually Impaired Angels Tandem Bicycle Association joined hands to experience their first beach cleaning activity together.

Instructors prepared common marine debris on-site, allowing visually impaired students to understand through tactile exploration how plastic bags, PET bottles, glass bottles, and fishing nets contribute to coastal pollution and impact marine animals such as turtles and dolphins. Under the one-on-on guidance of Novatek volunteers, the visually impaired students excitedly walked toward the beach. Although the students couldn't see, volunteers described the locations of the debris, and the visually impaired students used tongs to pick up the trash piece by piece. They didn't even miss the aged trash that was pressed under rocks or buried in the sand. They made efforts to dig out plastic bags. On that day, a total of 60 kg of marine waste was collected, marking the beginning of the visually impaired students’ marine environmental education by restoring beach to its natural, pristine state.

Throughout the day of marine environmental education, in addition to beach cleaning, visually impaired students had an opportunity to assemble a model wind turbine, allowing them to understand the importance of green energy. They also learned about the characteristics of crabs from a crab expert in Da’an District, Taichung, who demonstrated using live crabs. It was a rare opportunity for the visually impaired students to safely touch and feel six different types of crabs, including the Mictyris brevidactylus (soldier crab) and the Cardisoma carnifex (brown land crab). Everyone was fascinated by this wonderful experience, which involved a mixture of fear, curiosity, and excitement!

The visually impaired students, who rarely have the opportunity to visit the beach, had a chance to experience nature and enjoy the beauty of the ocean through this beach cleaning event. They had the pleasure of listening to the sea and feeling the waves alongside volunteers. Additionally, through this educational activity, the students gained an understanding of the current marine environment and the importance of environmental and ecological conservation. The volunteers, through their experiences and companionship, developed a deeper understanding, acceptance, and inclusiveness of visually impaired individuals. They also realized that caring about marine issues transcends ethnic boundaries.

In the first half of 2023, Novatek Foundation organized three beach cleaning events in collaboration with Novatek volunteers and disadvantaged students. Together, they collected over 105.5 kg of marine debris. These activities aim to instill and foster correct concepts and attitudes toward environmental conservation among young students through environmental and ecological education as well as practical actions.