The Joy of Doing Good -- Recycling in Taichung
How happy are we when we do something to benefit people and Mother Earth? Here is the experience of Chen Hung-Yi, Director-General of the Environmental Protection Bureau in Taichung City, Taiwan.
Coincidence
Chen shared the joy of doing good with Master Cheng Yen, founder of Tzu Chi, and her volunteers at the Jing Si Hall in Taichung on the morning of November 11th.
He said that he was so happy to share his experience with Tzu Chi again. He humbly said that his bureau was second best in recycling in Taichung. Tzu Chi is number one.
Coincidentally, Master Cheng Yen began her mission of environmental protection after a lecture in Taichung in 1990. She told the audience to use the hands with which they were clapping to do environmental work. Chen had just graduated from college and later studied environmental engineering.
He grew up in the smoky environment of Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation (FCFC) in Changhua, Taiwan. Unintentionally, he was also raised in FCFC, where his father worked since he was young.
Learn From Tzu Chi
Chen said: “I have the opportunity to learn from Tzu Chi because of my public career. The clothes I am wearing today were developed by Da Ai Technology. What our Bureau does is the first half of the work of environmental protection. As for the second half, Tzu Chi occupies a very important position. It recycles resources that can be reused and turns them into products. This is not an easy task.”
Chen made an analogy: “A person's body needs arteries and veins to stay healthy. Arteries carry nutrients, just as governments supply people with water, electricity, and communications. On the other hand, Tzu Chi is like the veins of the body. It is calling on everyone to recycle in an environment-friendly manner, and cherish it when you recycle. If the rubbish really cannot be recycled, it will be disposed of by the environmental protection unit."
Thank you, Tzu Chi
Chen said: “When I was working in the EPA Resource Recovery Fund Management Committee at the Executive Yuan, I found out for the first time that Tzu Chi's recycling volume accounted for half of that of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Bureaus. It surprised me.”
Waipu, Taichung City is home to Taiwan's first food waste recycling power plant. It produces methane and uses natural gas to generate electricity. The remaining biogas residue is used as fertilizer for rice crops in cooperation with local farmers. The next harvest will be on November 15 this year. If there is a chance, he hopes that Tzu Chi will arrange for volunteers to visit the Waipu Green Energy Ecological Park to see how food waste generates electricity.
He felt grateful to Tzu Chi: “Thank you, Master, for continuing on the road of environmental protection, and continuing to lead us all to fight against oxidation. The Environmental Protection Bureau will continue to learn from Tzu Chi.”
Recently, Chen has also been reflecting on the fact that, during the pandemic, there were more delivery of goods. This resulted in nearly 40% more disposable containers. He actively tried to find a way and thought about how to recycle the oil-stained containers. He hopes to discuss this with Tzu Chi and learn more from them.
We all need to learn recycling. To love our planet, let us promote environmental protection and practice how to live in an eco-friendly way with our clapping hands. Waste reduction starts from the source -- us. We can do it.
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Article: Meichen Liao
