The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.128)

01 TZU CHI 128 By Dharma Master Cheng Yen Translated by Goh Hwe Yong aster’s Teaching Tzu Chi volunteers are living bodhisattvas who seize every moment to make the best use of their abilities, to add values to their lives. As they give new life to recyclable materials, in fact they are creating a beautiful and meaningful life for themselves, as such, it is “The Most Beautiful Life!”. T zu Chi has been promoting Environmental Protection for 30 years now. Recently, our volunteers are actively carrying out activities to share with the general public on their joys in carrying out the environment protection mission, in the hope of creating awareness and educating people on the need to protect the environment. Our volunteers are sincere and true in their mission. They work unconditionally to protect the environment. Some leave home before sunrise to collect recyclables, and continue to work into the night. Despite their advanced age, with good intention, energy and wisdom, our elderly volunteers are doing their part to make the society a better place for all. Throughout their whole lives, they have worked hard for their families, the society, Tzu Chi, and the environment. Their wrinkled and aged hands justify a lifetime of hard work and a life well lived. Wages are commonly calculated based on hours of work done. However, it is not possible to calculate these volunteers’ wages, for they value every minute, every second, doing every bit that they can to protect this planet. Such spirit is priceless. There is no end to human desires, which inevitably lead to endless production of goods to satisfy these desires; the more we consume, the more rubbish we produce. The thought of recyclable or reusable items ending up in trash and polluting the environment is too disheartening to the volunteers, as such they are determined to collect and transform them into useful materials. Even when recycling companies refuse to collect recyclables that they consider worthless or non- profitable, our volunteers would still collect them and carefully clean up, trying their best not to let them end up in the incinerator or landfill. Plastic bags that end up in the bins are usually dirty, but our volunteers are not deterred by the filth and foul smell. They clean and dry them before handing over to the recycling company. Where and how can they hang such a big volume of plastic bags? Tzu Chi volunteers of different professions put their heads together to invent various types of equipment to ease their efforts in doing recycling work. Zhonggang recycling centre in Xinzhuang district of New Taipei City, collects an average of 10,000 kg of old plastic bags every month. Knowing that the centre lacks the space to cope with such a huge volume, volunteer Cai Zhi who works in the metal industry, designed a pulley elevating clothesline rack. Initially, the manually operated equipment required four to five The Most Beautiful Life