Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) The Taipei City government urged people on Sunday not to litter during the city's New Year's Eve celebration and said additional trash cans will be deployed in the area near Taipei 101 to encourage people to dispose of their garbage properly.
The city's Department of Environmental Protection said workers will push 36 wheeled trash cans with LED lights in the vicinity of the skyscraper to collect garage.
Another 240 fixed trash cans, also with lights attached so they can be spotted easily, are in place in 60 different locations around City Hall, the city said.
People can simply follow the lights to know where to throw out their garbage, officials said.
City workers will monitor the trash cans and empty them as soon as they fill up so that New Year's Eve revelers will have a place to throw out their garbage all through the night.
Several student clubs said they will launch a clean-up campaign during and after the year-end celebration and urged people to join their effort.
Last year's New Year's Eve celebration left mountains of garbage on the streets. More than 500 cleaners did not finished clearing the streets of waste until about 6 a.m., the department said.
Members of Zonta club, a service organization formed by students from National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, Shih Hsin University, and Taiwan Police College, said they will wear vests bearing the words "reduce litter" and help clean up during and after the festivities.
The Embrace the Earth with Smile Union, also formed by college students, said union members hope to recruit thousands of volunteers to help pick up litter all around Xinyi District, where Taipei 101 and City Hall are located.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is also joining in the "No Littering" campaign by organizing five groups of young people to help keep the year-end celebration sites clean in six cities around Taiwan, including Taipei.
A foundation spokesperson said more than 100 young persons will hold placards and shout slogans calling on the public to recycle their garbage and not to litter the streets.
(By Hsu Chih-wei, Wang Chao-yu, Huang Li-yun and Ann Chen)
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