During the annual Yellow Ribbon Prison Run, six groups of Tzu Chi volunteers placed recycling bins for different categories of waste at the venue to encourage participants to sort their waste for recycling. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
During the recent 2015 Yellow Ribbon Prison Run held on 13 September, which saw close to 4,000 people participating, 400 kg of waste paper, 43 kg of aluminum cans, and 147 kg of plastic waste were collected.
“Most participants of the run will not normally look out for rubbish bins on their own initiative. As long as one person starts to litter, everyone will follow suit,” said Liu Li Da, from a waste collection company and member of the external committee of the event. In the past, the venue would be filled with litter after the conclusion of the run. In 2014, when Tzu Chi began to promote the concept of recycling at the venue, the amount of waste collected has dropped from 6 tons in 2013, to just 3 tons.
The organizing committee was impressed by the cleanliness of the venue at the conclusion of the event, and therefore decided to extend another invitation to Tzu Chi in 2015. Apart from exhorting participants not to litter and to sort their litter according to type, a recycling booth with the theme of “Recycling Creates New Life” was also set up at the venue to bring home the message of extending the life of things that we use.
Visual Reminders to Recycle
In September 2015, Singapore was once again hit by the haze hazard which saw the PSI rise to 200 and above. On the 13 September, the air quality was slightly better and though the event went on, out of concern for the safety of participants, the 10 km competitive run was cancelled and the 6 km fun run was changed to a 6 km walk.
The end point of the run was the Changi Prison Complex, where a tented zone housed the exhibition and activity area of the prison and its partnering organizations. Tzu Chi’s exhibits with the theme of “Recycling Creates New Life” were located at a prominent area near the entrance.
Though the numbers of participants were significantly lower than the year before, there were still many people who stopped by to look at the exhibits. In particular, the exhibit detailing the amount of resources used in producing meat versus that of producing vegetarian foods attracted the attention of many, and volunteers explained in detail to them that adopting a vegetarian diet was the most effective and direct way of conserving our resources.
Lin Yong Yao, a participant, had his interest drawn to the exhibit created from PET bottles, which listed out the four main water sources in Singapore. He shared that at home, his family would re-use the water from their laundry to clean the floor and the toilet. With global warming a threat to our water sources, he felt that if everyone could reduce their water usage and their resource wastage, as well as re-use plastic bags and bottles, they could contribute their bit to help save Mother Earth.
Wu Pei Yuan, too, was convinced of the importance of recycling. Upon knowing that Tzu Chi’s income from recycling was used to fund its charity projects and activities, he happily said that he would take his recyclables to the Tzu Chi recycling point near his home on Tzu Chi Recycling Day (second Sunday of each month).
Leading By Sincere Example
Previously, rubbish bins were only placed along the route of the run. This year, Tzu Chi collaborated with the waste collection companies, which helped pass the litter that had been sorted on to Tzu Chi for recycling. This year, the goodie bag which was given out to every participant who had completed the run, contained food items and souvenirs that had less wasteful packaging as compared to previous years. Tzu Chi volunteers set up six recycling points at the Changi Prison Complex with three to four volunteers manning each point. The volunteers encouraged everyone to finish their drink or food items, sort them according to whether they were aluminum, paper or plastic before disposing of them in the respective bins.
Among the 63 Tzu Chi volunteers, there were 20 Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) members. Dr. Edwin Lim, who was stationed at the drinks station, said that it was his first time leading a team of medical professionals in a recycling event. He expressed how happy he was that TIMA members had the chance to take part in such a community event and hoped that they could pick up recycling knowledge and incorporate it into their daily working lives.
TIMA members Chen Yu Xin and He Yi Ying carried a garbage bag around as they busily shuttled about in the crowd. Whenever they spotted any recyclable items lying on the grass near where participants were sitting, they would smilingly invite them to place the items into their bag.
“Though the day is really hot, we are happy to engage in this task as we want to minimize litter that reaches the ground and to keep the environment clean!” said He.
The chairman of the organizing committee Zhang Wei Zheng praised Tzu Chi’s efforts, saying that the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run was not only a health event, but also an event to promote recycling and environmental protection among the masses. A total of 600 kg of waste was collected that day, and though the objective was to prevent litter from reaching the ground, the more important goal of the event was to bring across the message to the masses that we must renew and extend the life of our resources.
Waste collection entrepreneur Liu Li Da (right) affirms Tzu Chi’s efforts in educating the public about recycling. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
A Tzu Chi volunteer explains to participants the importance of cherishing water resources with an exhibit made of recycled PET bottles. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
Volunteers took the opportunity to spread awareness about recycling to these 70 student volunteers who were having their lunch break. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
TIMA members Chen Yu Xin (right) and He Yi Ying (left) carried a garbage collection bag and shuttled back and forth in the crowd as they collected recyclable waste. They also smilingly invited participants to dispose of recyclable items into their garbage bag. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
Before handing the recyclable items back to the recycling companies, Tzu Chi volunteers would first sort and pack them properly to ensure hygiene and save on storage space. (Photo by Huang Da Lun)
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