As disruption in the Strait of Hormuz drives up pressure on oil-linked goods, including plastic, small vendors that make up the delicious night markets in Taiwan are being forced to improvise.
Great article Elaine. I have been to the night markets in Tapei several times when I travelled to Asia regularly for work. I love stinky tofu and all the other delights but perhaps this current crisis is an opportunity for the creative, resilient stall holders in Taiwan to experiement with new and maybe locally sourced and produced materials. Keep up the great work!
🤯 I nearly choked when I saw all the plastic bags at the night market! We have largely banned non-reusable plastic bags here in Aotearoa-NZ but I did notice that the lady at the Chinese food takeaway buffet I went to recently put my container in one of those very thin plastic bags in case the sauce leaked when I carried it home... All my hard plastic goes to local Council recycling & all of my soft plastic goes to another recycling system - and of course a few items can be re-used around home before they are re-cycled.
🙋 BUT the real answer for Taiwan and the rest of us is alternative products - sorting out the hygiene/food safety question so we can take our own containers would be the fastest to implement ??? 🤔
As many have said, it is an OPPORTUNITY for countries to re-think, but I fear that as soon as the "crisis" is over people will just fall into more convenient bad habits 🤷
You’re absolutely right. Even there are eco friendly ways to drink bubble tea but only some people follow the rules. And with the night market food, hygiene is the main issues just like surgical waste
Great article Elaine. I have been to the night markets in Tapei several times when I travelled to Asia regularly for work. I love stinky tofu and all the other delights but perhaps this current crisis is an opportunity for the creative, resilient stall holders in Taiwan to experiement with new and maybe locally sourced and produced materials. Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much for your comment! Night markets really are something special
What’s the most memorable dish you’ve tried at the Taipei night markets?
🤯 I nearly choked when I saw all the plastic bags at the night market! We have largely banned non-reusable plastic bags here in Aotearoa-NZ but I did notice that the lady at the Chinese food takeaway buffet I went to recently put my container in one of those very thin plastic bags in case the sauce leaked when I carried it home... All my hard plastic goes to local Council recycling & all of my soft plastic goes to another recycling system - and of course a few items can be re-used around home before they are re-cycled.
🙋 BUT the real answer for Taiwan and the rest of us is alternative products - sorting out the hygiene/food safety question so we can take our own containers would be the fastest to implement ??? 🤔
As many have said, it is an OPPORTUNITY for countries to re-think, but I fear that as soon as the "crisis" is over people will just fall into more convenient bad habits 🤷
You’re absolutely right. Even there are eco friendly ways to drink bubble tea but only some people follow the rules. And with the night market food, hygiene is the main issues just like surgical waste
When I lived in Zhuhai, China, we would usually take visitors to Honk Kong for a couple of days and visit the famous night market in Kowloon.