Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

We only have one earth and it is the responsibility of everyone to cherish and protect our planet. In accordance with this principle, Tzu Chi volunteers have taken the initiative to assist the Taipower Company in recycling a significant amount of discarded cardboard to contribute to preserving the environment.

Seize the Chance

Taipower is in the process of replacing its traditional mechanical electricity meters with smart meters across Taiwan; this has resulted in a large number of discarded cardboard boxes. To address this issue, Tzu Chi volunteers in Central Taiwan took the initiative to undertake the recycling work, to reduce the amount of incineration and avoid air pollution. Recycling cardboard not only helps reduce waste in landfills but also helps conserve resources such as trees and energy.

Precious Resources

Tens of thousands of discarded cardboard boxes were stacked into a 2-story high and 15-meter-long hill in a Taipower Company warehouse. Below the hill of cardboard boxes, Tzu Chi recycling volunteers stood in a row. They opened the boxes, flattened them, stacked them high, and sorted them. These precious resources in the hands of the volunteers were a hot potato in the eyes of Liu Kun-ming (劉坤明), the contractor for the meter replacement project.

He said: "It takes a lot of manpower to deal with the cardboard boxes after installing smart meters, and I have been troubled by this problem as well."

Doing What We Can Is A Blessing

Tzu Chi volunteers are committed to environmental protection and participate in 2-3 major recycling missions each month. More than 30 volunteers take part in each mission, demonstrating their dedication to the cause. Over two and a half years, the volunteers have collected more than 240,000 discarded cardboard boxes. Liao Lu-jie (廖祿介), a Tzu Chi volunteer, stated that their biggest challenge is handling the large volume of recycling during each mission.

Founder of Tzu Chi, Master Cheng Yen once said: "Doing what we can is a blessing." These words are deeply ingrained in the hearts of the volunteers. Liao Guixun (廖桂勳), a Tzu Chi volunteer, traveled for one hour and 20 minutes on two buses from Fengyuan to the site. Despite the long journey, Liao did not find the recycling work arduous. Another volunteer, Zhang Ming-zhu (張明珠), 83 years old, participates in every mission, demonstrating her commitment to environmental protection. Their unwavering dedication is truly inspiring.

Return with A Full Load

After more than 4 hours of hard work, the mission was finally completed at 4:30 pm. The cardboard hill disappeared, leaving only the Taipower Company's clean warehouse and beautiful memories of the shared hardships. Tzu Chi's recycling truck returned full of cardboard.

A Jing Si Aphorism says: “Useful materials are all precious treasures.”

Join Tzu Chi. Let us take action to love the Earth.

Story by Zhang Zhe-ren, Liu Bo-ming, and Guo J-izong from Taichung.