Laughing straw cows – Happy kids – Clean air

In a bid to reduce air pollution, rice farmers are being encouraged to desist from burning rice straw and instead find value in its potential for creative artwork. Chiayi Environmental Protection Bureau has teamed up with Buffalo Hut Rice Straw Workshop Studio (水牛厝稻草工作坊) to raise a straw art event called “Chaiyi Loves Rice Straw –Buffaloes Love Mazes,” creating the largest rice-straw maze in Chaiyi. The event uses various games to promote the recycling of rice straw and prevent the open-air burning of straw, which severely affects air quality. 

Rice is the most widely cultivated crop in Chiayi, covering an area of 32,000 hectares – ranked 3rd in the country. Each year, the 160,000 tons of rice straw waste produced by rice cultivation around the county has been traditionally burnt open-air by farmers, causing air pollution and billowing thick smoke that even endangers traffic safety. With a gradual deterioration in air quality over recent years, the environmental protection bureau has begun trying to safeguard air quality and the health of county residents by raising environmental awareness and urging citizens to protect the earth through sustainable forms of agriculture.

以下為中文對照

為宣導稻草創作價值、鼓勵農民勿露天燃燒稻草而產生空氣汙染，嘉義縣環保局與水牛厝稻草工作坊合辦｢嘉義愛稻草，水牛愛迷宮」的稻草藝術節活動，打造嘉義縣第一座大型稻草迷宮。透過活動，以遊戲方式宣導稻草再利用，杜絕危害空氣品質的露天燃燒稻草行為。

嘉義縣農作物以種植稻米為最大宗，稻作種植面積3萬2千公頃，全國排名第三，每年產生稻草稈農業廢棄物約16萬公噸，早年農民習慣以露天焚燒方式處理稻草，造成濃煙瀰漫及空氣污染，甚至危及行車安全，這幾年空氣品質加遽惡化，為維護空氣品質及縣民健康，環保局推動環保觀念，呼籲民眾支持環保農業循環經濟，共同為愛護地球盡一份心力。