The world of Tzu Chi September 2020 (Vol.126)

2020 • 09 08 eature forget to do so. When you ask them, they would explain that “this is my home, so of course I should look after it.” Master De Quan, who is in charge of logistics and general affairs in the Abode, has deep-rooted faith in what Master Cheng Yen taught. In her work duties, she adheres to the principle of “never making purchases unless the old items are beyond repair”. With nimble hands and much ingenuity, she has transformed the metal covers of faulty stand fans into cloth drying racks, appended elastic bands onto iron racks and made them into racks to hold laundry wash basins. She had also joined several dip tubes into pump heads with tubes long enough to install on large bottles of dish detergent, which proved to be much more ergonomic. Once, as they were discarding old pillows as the male dormitories needed new ones, Master De Quan collected and gathered all the old pillows and stitched them together to form a huge mattress that was much loved by those who needed it. Master De Quan admitted that her creativity was spurred by the need to be as frugal as possible for the sake of the self-sufficient Abode community, and most importantly, to extend the usage of items. Cutting back waste at the source The production of Jing-Si instant rice and multigrain instant beverage powders is one of Cloth drying racks upcycled from faulty stand fans.