The first non-governmental organization application for 1% For The Planet has been submitted for Green Formosa Front.
The organization's mission is to advocate social and corporate responsibility through introducing environmentally friendly legislation, holding public hearings, and calling for the punishment of major polluters. For the past couple of weeks, I have been working with Tung-Jye Wu and Roxanne Chen from GFF, learning about some of their current projects. They include plans for organic education and lunch program at select elementary schools, policy research on organic agriculture, Earth Day 2008 Music Festival, etc.
We are eagerly awaiting word from 1% FTP's approval to add GFF to its list of nonprofit members.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Show and Tell - Part II
Word travels pretty fast around here.
Cindi Wang, a reporter from Business Weekly, recently read about Let My People Go Surfing and was intrigued by Patagonia. Through sources, she found out that I was spending a couple of months in Taiwan with Wild at Heart on an environmental internship. And a story began brewing.
She and I met this morning to talk about my background and work experience with Patagonia, and why I decided to do an environmental internship in Taiwan. Robin joined us at the tail end of the interview and talked about the current issues that Wild is working on. If no changes are needed by her editor, the article should be out next week. A big thanks to Tim Rhone from Ventura for providing the last minute photo requests for the article.
Cindi Wang, a reporter from Business Weekly, recently read about Let My People Go Surfing and was intrigued by Patagonia. Through sources, she found out that I was spending a couple of months in Taiwan with Wild at Heart on an environmental internship. And a story began brewing.
She and I met this morning to talk about my background and work experience with Patagonia, and why I decided to do an environmental internship in Taiwan. Robin joined us at the tail end of the interview and talked about the current issues that Wild is working on. If no changes are needed by her editor, the article should be out next week. A big thanks to Tim Rhone from Ventura for providing the last minute photo requests for the article.
Show and Tell
Time to put my Chinglish to test.
On Tuesday morning, Fedor accompanied me to the Himalayan Foundation's office for the first presentation. The group that was gathered in the large conference room included representatives from the Himalayan Foundation, csrCommunity International, Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Ya-Ren Publishing. It was a good mix of nonprofits and businesses.
As I ran through the slides, some good questions came up about Patagonia's stance on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. I talked about our compliance with the Fair Labor Association's policies; the internal, as well as third party social audits at the factories. I took advantage of the internet connection in the conference room and showed the group the Footprint Chronicles and Timmy O'Neill's video on the Common Threads Recycling Program. Everyone was amazed by the steps Patagonia took to disclose its impact and loved the humorous approach we took to encourage recycling.
The editor from Ya-Ren Publishing was especially excited about my description of the corporate culture since it reaffirmed with what she read in Let My People Go Surfing. Her company had just translated and published YC's book earlier this month.
I was encouraged by this first outing, and looked forward to the event at Green Formosa Front the next evening. But by that afternoon, I was losing my voice. As soon as I got home, my aunt and uncle started feeding me the traditional cure, honey loquat. While I felt fine, I was still without a voice the next day.
Fortunately, Charles Lin, a Wild at Heart staff member, is trained in Chinese medicine so I was treated to Gua Sha and accupuncture first thing in the morning. He also prescribed three herbal medicines. By late afternoon, I regained a scratchy but audible voice.
What a relief! I am glad I did not have to cancel since more than 20 people showed up. This time the audience consisted mostly of representatives from other NGO's. They too did not disappoint and had lots of questions from the work environment, our approach to the Cradle to Cradle concept, e-fibers, etc. Mostly, they were amazed by the amount of money and effort that Patagonia has dedicated to the environment.
On Tuesday morning, Fedor accompanied me to the Himalayan Foundation's office for the first presentation. The group that was gathered in the large conference room included representatives from the Himalayan Foundation, csrCommunity International, Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Ya-Ren Publishing. It was a good mix of nonprofits and businesses.As I ran through the slides, some good questions came up about Patagonia's stance on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. I talked about our compliance with the Fair Labor Association's policies; the internal, as well as third party social audits at the factories. I took advantage of the internet connection in the conference room and showed the group the Footprint Chronicles and Timmy O'Neill's video on the Common Threads Recycling Program. Everyone was amazed by the steps Patagonia took to disclose its impact and loved the humorous approach we took to encourage recycling.
The editor from Ya-Ren Publishing was especially excited about my description of the corporate culture since it reaffirmed with what she read in Let My People Go Surfing. Her company had just translated and published YC's book earlier this month.
I was encouraged by this first outing, and looked forward to the event at Green Formosa Front the next evening. But by that afternoon, I was losing my voice. As soon as I got home, my aunt and uncle started feeding me the traditional cure, honey loquat. While I felt fine, I was still without a voice the next day.
Fortunately, Charles Lin, a Wild at Heart staff member, is trained in Chinese medicine so I was treated to Gua Sha and accupuncture first thing in the morning. He also prescribed three herbal medicines. By late afternoon, I regained a scratchy but audible voice.
What a relief! I am glad I did not have to cancel since more than 20 people showed up. This time the audience consisted mostly of representatives from other NGO's. They too did not disappoint and had lots of questions from the work environment, our approach to the Cradle to Cradle concept, e-fibers, etc. Mostly, they were amazed by the amount of money and effort that Patagonia has dedicated to the environment.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
St. Patrick's Day is relatively unknown in Taiwan so Zoe and I did our best by sporting our green shirts today. She also brought along her St. Patty's day tattoos to share with the kids in her class.
Ryan Burger, my co-worker Nikki's husband, was in town on business so we celebrated in style at TGI Friday's. We toasted the patron saint and shared our fond memories of St. Patty's Day past. It was great to see a familiar face in a foreign land.
Ryan Burger, my co-worker Nikki's husband, was in town on business so we celebrated in style at TGI Friday's. We toasted the patron saint and shared our fond memories of St. Patty's Day past. It was great to see a familiar face in a foreign land.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Week of Power Point and Transcription
Now that I have a goal to work towards, Fedor Wu of Wild at Heart, began arranging opportunities for me to talk about Patagonia and 1% For The Planet. This is a very strange concept for me because I have never enjoyed public speaking, in fact, I have always dreaded it. Oh well, one is never too old to try something new.
Fedor had two meetings lined up for next week, one at the Himalayan Foundation and the other at Green Formosa Front; both are non-governmental organizations. Himalayan Foundation focuses on issues relating to corporate social responsibility while Green Formosa Front battles corporate polluters through legal means. He suggested that the best way to convey the message is probably through a Power Point presentation and he would take care of the translation part.
It had been quite a while since I have had the need to use Power Point so I was excited to have this opportunity to refresh my skills. The tricky part will be to do so with Windows Vista. While the format is attractive, it took some adapting.
Later in the week, Robin asked me to work on the transcription for a video of the first Global Greens Conference took place in Canberra, Australia in 2001. Piece of cake I thought, but no cigar.
There were more than 800 attendees from Green Parties around the world, over 70 countries, so I had to contend with varied English abilities and accents. I marked the time when each speaker began and transcribed what they said in English. Since the information had to be translated, I tried to pause every 15 seconds or so, to allow for Chinese characters to fill in.
Despite the challenging task, I appreciated the heartfelt messages to save the environment, especially the one from a New Zealand teenager. Hers was an inspirational call for the young people to take action for their future depended on it, quite literally.
Fedor had two meetings lined up for next week, one at the Himalayan Foundation and the other at Green Formosa Front; both are non-governmental organizations. Himalayan Foundation focuses on issues relating to corporate social responsibility while Green Formosa Front battles corporate polluters through legal means. He suggested that the best way to convey the message is probably through a Power Point presentation and he would take care of the translation part.
It had been quite a while since I have had the need to use Power Point so I was excited to have this opportunity to refresh my skills. The tricky part will be to do so with Windows Vista. While the format is attractive, it took some adapting.
Later in the week, Robin asked me to work on the transcription for a video of the first Global Greens Conference took place in Canberra, Australia in 2001. Piece of cake I thought, but no cigar.
There were more than 800 attendees from Green Parties around the world, over 70 countries, so I had to contend with varied English abilities and accents. I marked the time when each speaker began and transcribed what they said in English. Since the information had to be translated, I tried to pause every 15 seconds or so, to allow for Chinese characters to fill in.
Despite the challenging task, I appreciated the heartfelt messages to save the environment, especially the one from a New Zealand teenager. Hers was an inspirational call for the young people to take action for their future depended on it, quite literally.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Two Little Monkeys
Zoe and I met my friend Ming, from Michigan State, and his family at National Taiwan University today. It was really good catching up with him. The last time Steve and I saw Charlie, he was just a baby. Now look at him!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Week 2 - 3/3 to 3/7
Robin and I decided focus my internship on introducing 1% For The Planet to businesses and grassroots environmental activists around Taiwan. I would talk to small groups about Patagonia and it's philosophy, corporate culture, environmental activism, and link to 1% FTP. Our goal is to help a select group of five environmental organizations with their application to become part of the 1% FTP nonprofit network so they may be eligible to receive funding from the businesses in the alliance.
For those of you who are not familiar with 1% For the Planet, it is a nonprofit that Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, established to encourage more businesses to donate 1% of sales to environmental groups. Some of the reasons for a business to join include opportunities to network with hundreds of like-minded companies, as well as a positive corporate image as consumers equate the 1% FTP logo with environmental responsibility.
My task for the past week was to gather information about the application process. This is made easier as Wild at Heart and Robin and his partners, Winkler Partners, recently joined 1% FTP.
The first of the environmental groups I am slated to work with is Green Formosa Front. I met with Tung-Jye Wu and Roanne Chen on Wednesday. They filled me in on the group's mission to advocate social and corporate responsibility by introducing environmentally friendly legislation. Right now, they are working with a group of organic farmers to provide an organic agriculture lesson and lunch and each week at three elementary schools.
On Friday, Wild at Heart was invited to a tea party, celebrating the establishment of the Taiwan Association for Corporate Social Responsibility. Robin was invited to give a talk so he brought up 1% FTP and my reason for being in Taiwan. Several people came up to me afterwards, wanting to find out more about Patagonia.
For those of you who are not familiar with 1% For the Planet, it is a nonprofit that Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, established to encourage more businesses to donate 1% of sales to environmental groups. Some of the reasons for a business to join include opportunities to network with hundreds of like-minded companies, as well as a positive corporate image as consumers equate the 1% FTP logo with environmental responsibility.
My task for the past week was to gather information about the application process. This is made easier as Wild at Heart and Robin and his partners, Winkler Partners, recently joined 1% FTP.
The first of the environmental groups I am slated to work with is Green Formosa Front. I met with Tung-Jye Wu and Roanne Chen on Wednesday. They filled me in on the group's mission to advocate social and corporate responsibility by introducing environmentally friendly legislation. Right now, they are working with a group of organic farmers to provide an organic agriculture lesson and lunch and each week at three elementary schools.
On Friday, Wild at Heart was invited to a tea party, celebrating the establishment of the Taiwan Association for Corporate Social Responsibility. Robin was invited to give a talk so he brought up 1% FTP and my reason for being in Taiwan. Several people came up to me afterwards, wanting to find out more about Patagonia.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Kevin, this one's for you!
Steve: Hang on Honey, I think I stepped in some dog poop.
Ting: No, you didn't step in dog poop, it's Stinky Tofu!
That was Steve's first impression of the aromatic Stinky Tofu ten years ago at a night market. Unfortunately for him, like Kimchee, it is one of my favorite foods. The fermented tofu is deep fried then loaded up with garlic and flavorful sauces. It is often served with pickled cabbage.
Ting: No, you didn't step in dog poop, it's Stinky Tofu!
That was Steve's first impression of the aromatic Stinky Tofu ten years ago at a night market. Unfortunately for him, like Kimchee, it is one of my favorite foods. The fermented tofu is deep fried then loaded up with garlic and flavorful sauces. It is often served with pickled cabbage.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Off to school...
As I reported to work, Zoe also started kindergarten in Taiwan. My aunt found a Montessori kindergarten within a 5 minute walk from her home. The school offers instruction in both Chinese and English so Zoe is accessible to English speakers if she needs help in her all-Chinese class.
In typical Zoe fashion, she was eager to start school and barely gave a glance back to dear old Mom on her first day. I normally drop her off in around 8:15 am and my aunt picks her up around 4:30 pm. The only complaint that Zoe has reported is that she has to do her own dishes after each meal. Two weeks later, Ms Wei, her teacher, reported that she is doing well socially and academically.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Damn the Dam
On Monday, 3/3/08, I travelled with Funder Chen and Christina MacFarquhar of Wild at Heart, and Wei-Ling Su of Observer Ecological Consultant Co., to Yunlin County for a meeting with the Central Water Resource Office (CWRO) and their environmental consultants. We were also to visit the site of the proposed Hushan Dam.
After spending the past week in Taipei's dreary weather, it was wonderful to see blue skies again as we headed south. Once we arrived in Yunlin, we met with several other environmental groups and scientific community representatives from around the island to strategize our approach to the halt or delay the construction of the dam.
Promptly at 1:30 pm, we assembled at the temporary offices of the CWRO for a briefing on the steps that it has taken to protect the various species found in the proposed dam site. Each attendee was given a beautiful coffee table book that featured all of the dams in Taiwan. Mind you, the dams here are treated as tourist attractions. Looking at the map of Taiwan, dotted with dam sites, I was surprised to find the sheer number of dams for a small island that is approximately the combined size of Maryland and Delaware.
Within the hour, we were issued hardhats and loaded onto the water department vans for a tour of the dam site. Along the way, Mark Wilkie, an avid birder and a local member of Wild at Heart, filled me in on the plight of the various endemic species in the area.
As soon as we passed through the gates of the dam site, the groves of bamboo began to give way to large swaths of raw dirt. The view from the entrance reminded me of the clearcut logging shot in an old Patagonia catalog. The CWRO's environmental consultants assured us that only bamboos and betelnut trees were removed. But even from an untrained eye, there had to be many more indiginous species that were lost besides the threatened Fairy Pitta that is on the World Conservation Union's Red List.
We were allowed to venture into one of the proposed dam feeders so I took a few more shots of the area as clusters of butterflies fluttered around me. Such open space is difficult to come by in such a densely populated place. In the short time that I have been in Taipei, I realized that I have taken for granted the large stretches of wilderness that we have in the States. I hope the environmental groups here will be able to salvage what little space that is left for future generations and that the government will begin to focus on conservation and alternative energy.
After spending the past week in Taipei's dreary weather, it was wonderful to see blue skies again as we headed south. Once we arrived in Yunlin, we met with several other environmental groups and scientific community representatives from around the island to strategize our approach to the halt or delay the construction of the dam.
Promptly at 1:30 pm, we assembled at the temporary offices of the CWRO for a briefing on the steps that it has taken to protect the various species found in the proposed dam site. Each attendee was given a beautiful coffee table book that featured all of the dams in Taiwan. Mind you, the dams here are treated as tourist attractions. Looking at the map of Taiwan, dotted with dam sites, I was surprised to find the sheer number of dams for a small island that is approximately the combined size of Maryland and Delaware.Within the hour, we were issued hardhats and loaded onto the water department vans for a tour of the dam site. Along the way, Mark Wilkie, an avid birder and a local member of Wild at Heart, filled me in on the plight of the various endemic species in the area.
As soon as we passed through the gates of the dam site, the groves of bamboo began to give way to large swaths of raw dirt. The view from the entrance reminded me of the clearcut logging shot in an old Patagonia catalog. The CWRO's environmental consultants assured us that only bamboos and betelnut trees were removed. But even from an untrained eye, there had to be many more indiginous species that were lost besides the threatened Fairy Pitta that is on the World Conservation Union's Red List.
We were allowed to venture into one of the proposed dam feeders so I took a few more shots of the area as clusters of butterflies fluttered around me. Such open space is difficult to come by in such a densely populated place. In the short time that I have been in Taipei, I realized that I have taken for granted the large stretches of wilderness that we have in the States. I hope the environmental groups here will be able to salvage what little space that is left for future generations and that the government will begin to focus on conservation and alternative energy.
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