Due to the lengthy amount of time the university has invested in environmental education while also implementing various environmental protection policies, this year TKU is once again rewarded with the EPA Environmental Award. This makes TKU the first and only institute in the history of Taiwan to receive this award three consecutive times. In addition, the Annual Enterprises Environmental Protection Award will also be awarded to this university. In the morning on November 6th, President Flora C.I Chang had the honor of meeting Vice President of Taiwan Wu Den Yi at the award ceremony. Vice President of Administration, Po-yuan Kao, received the EPA award in representation of the university.

The Dean of General Affairs, Xiao-xian Luo, stated that being the first and only school to receive this award has great meaning.The entire faculty has put forward a tremendous amount of effort and time involving environmental protection, making TKU stand out amongst many great institutes. Many members of our staff are from an older generation, therefore to receive this honorable award we have had to emphasize challenging ourselves, slowly adapting and implementing a modern education of quality and conduct. Xiao-xian Luo stated it has been a step by step process of adopting the new environmentally friendly lifestyle into the school’s daily routine. Now at Tamkang, environmental protection and education has become the root that has grown into all of our lives and we are one step closer to making a lasting impact on society.

The secretary of the Center of Environmental Safety and Occupational Health, Ceng Rui Guang, stated since 2010 the school initiated the Reduction of Carbon Waste, which reduced the waste of food containers by 52,015. This many containers would stack up to be 5 times the height of the Taipei 101 building. We have adopted the policy of “Using our mouth to love the world” which involves giving the entire school a discount for using Eco-friendly dishware, not using the air conditioner unless the temperature is above 26 degrees, conservation of water usage in bathroom facilities, encouraging students to use smart phones or recyclable notebooks to take notes and heavily advocating public transportation. By careful management and changing our daily habits, last year we saved 615,800 watts of electricity and 14,600 metric tons of water.

Tamkang University’s three year environmental protection plan can be divided into three different segments: short term, midterm and long term goals. The immediate or short term goal was to promote the concept of environmental education as a direction for the school. The midterm goal was to create and then implement fundamental environmental protection education into the way of life on campus. The long term goal was to construct and realize a varying, multi-platformed ecosystem.

The Resource Recycle and Recovery program caters to the reduction of waste and transforms it into something that can benefit the campus. This takes collaboration with all of our fellow workers to continue researching and innovating new concepts and ideas. This year, we had focused on the issue of how to reuse the old and worn mattresses on campus. Extra curricular activities organizer, Feng-chi Liu suggested that the worn mattresses could be remade into a protective shielding aligned on the office walls and tables. Now she is excited to say that the reuse of the mattress have not only raised the quality and comfort of the tables, but they have also brought about many new functions besides just protective shielding, including uses for student arts and performances.

This university’s realization of environmental protection and awareness has awakened us to a greener way of life. By actively adopting and sustaining this education, the university is able to flourish and develop in new ways while reducing and limiting our spending costs. Xiao-xian Luo stated through the efforts of everyone in the university to become more environmentally friendly, we can reduce the wasting of natural resources and shine a light to the way of a cleaner future.

SDGs

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