Co-existing With The Earth: Tzu Chi's Three Decades Of Recycling by William Kazer;Rey-sheng Her;

Author:William Kazer;Rey-sheng Her;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811231599
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Health in Body and Mind

“Extending the Lifespan”

— Master Cheng Yen

Huang Hsu Chiu-ying was badly injured in a car accident years ago. She still struggles to express herself as the injury has impaired her speech. But with persistence she makes her point, saying that thanks to Tzu Chi she got a new lease on life and a chance to participate in recycling.

Standing next to a makeshift shrine that has been installed alongside piles of used paper and worn-out household goods, she says she once thought she’d be in a wheelchair for life. But treatment at a Tzu Chi hospital proved effective and soon she was able to walk with the help of a cane. Now she walks easily. “I’m really happy to be able to do this. I got a new lease on life here,” she said, adding that she has been a volunteer for more than seven years and is now a Tzu Chi commissioner.

After taking two buses to get to the Sanchong recycling center, she ties up stacks of newspapers. When she is done she turns her attention to a pile of plastic bottles, stepping on them one by one to crush them and save space before they are carted off to a factory where they are turned into plastic raw material. She takes off the bottle caps, placing the hard plastic in a separate bin from the softer bottles themselves. “This is my rehabilitation therapy,” she says. She quotes one of the mottoes of the recyclers: “Extend the lifespan of things” and suggests this applies to herself as well.

Hsiao Chiu-ying is another volunteer who enjoys feeling like she is part of a bigger cause. She is 65 and has been a volunteer for the past three years. Her vision is severely impaired, but she makes the effort to come to the recycling center by bus — and mostly on her own. She has a sign that indicates which bus she wants to take to get to the Sanchong recycling center. People at the bus stop help steer her to the right bus. Once she is on board, a recorded announcement tells passengers which stop the bus is approaching, so she knows when to get off. Someone from Tzu Chi meets her at the bus stop and takes her for the short walk to the recycling center.

She soon joins a small corps of volunteers, sitting on a low chair beside a pile of books and magazines that are being prepared for their new role in recycling. Pages are ripped from their binding and tossed in a bin as the first step in the recycling process. Next on the scrap heap, awaiting its unceremonious turn, is a Chinese language translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Hogwarts and all of its witchcraft and wizardry are no match for the steady hands of Ms. Hsiao and her fellow recyclers. Soon Harry, Professor Dumbledore and evil Lord Voldemort are consigned to the bin, taking their place in a jumble of

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