| Some people say it
is like a park, and others think it is more like
a vacation destination. This Tzu Chi Recycling
Station not only recycles, but also utilizes what
it collects to create a beautiful educational
center. A visit there will offer you one surprise
after another.
Liu-Chiao Recycling Station, which opened in
December 2002, is located near the city of Kaohsiung
in southern Taiwan. The once abandoned half-acre
lot, donated by Tzu Chi volunteer Jen-Chi Tsai,
has been transformed into a model green facility.
The goal of the Liu-Chiao recycling facility is
“to beautify our environment and educate
the public.” The facility serves as a convincing
example of practical ways of protecting our environment
through recycling.
The recycling facility is constructed from reusable
materials that come from four nearby Tzu Chi recycling
centers. The fencing around the recycling facility
is made from discarded mattresses with covers
removed, exposing the coils underneath.
The storage center for housing recyclable items
is made from sheet metal and metal racks originally
used to build temporary classrooms after the Sept.
21, 1999 earthquake in Taiwan. Tzu Chi volunteers
laboriously reassembled the pieces of metal, allowing
these objects to continue to be useful.
On the left side of the entrance, dark green trees
and light green bushes comprise the topiary of
Tzu Chi’s logo. The recycled iron sheets
were painted white and cut into words describing
ten advantages of recycling: be healthier; be
smarter; have a better life; have fewer conflicts;
have fewer worries; be blessed; learn more; make
things better for the next generation; let there
be fewer disasters; and create a pure land. These
words serve as the core of the belief system of
Tzu Chi volunteers.
When you step through the doorway, on your right
is a green meadow with a white-colored walkway.
This bumpy walkway is an exercise apparatus —
walking barefoot on it stimulates the pressure
points on the bottoms of your feet. When you look
closely, you’ll realize it’s made
of golf balls. In fact, it took volunteers close
to one year to collect the approximately three
to four thousand discarded balls utilized for
the walkway.
Through both volunteers’ efforts and the
facility’s ingenious designs, garbage has
been given new life — a once useless bathtub
is now a beautiful lily pond, discarded lumber
has been used to build an attractive outdoor pavilion,
and interlocking tiles are used to pave walkways
so the Earth can breathe. Each exhibit has its
own unique design and serves as an effective tool
for educating both adults and kids about recycling
and environmental protection.
Husband and wife team, Teh-Hsiung Chu and Hsio-Sy
Chen, volunteer much time working in the facility.
They have utilized their talents to beautify the
this place. For example, the outdoor restroom
— small bamboo pavilion called “Hear
the Rain” — sits amidst a field of
flowers.
Source: article from
Tzu Chi Monthly No. 451 (June 2003) by Chien-Yeh
Liang, Chin-Wen Chiang and Wen-Cheng Lu
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