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she collects as she starts to wash for irrigation. Measuring roughly
her vegetables can get pretty dirty, ten feet by six feet, the net captures
so she uses that to water her flowers. the mist, which then slowly condenses
The rest of the water from washing vegetables is into water droplets that drip into a pipe and
mostly clean, so after letting the little sediment then accumulate in a tank. Seventy-seven days
settle to the bottom, she can use the cleaner of observation revealed that collecting water
water on top to wash new vegetables the next from both rain and mist resulted in 177 times
day. Showering is similar. First she lets the as much water as collecting rainwater alone. On
soapy water wash away, and then she collects average, one square meter of the net collected
the cleaner water from subsequent rinsing and roughly 3.7 liters of water.
uses it to flush the toilet and mop the floor, thus Zhengzhu Zhang from Tzu Chi Foundation
conserving both water and money. Department of Construction explained,
At Tzu Chi’s more than five thousand “Setting up a direct mist collection net is an
recycling stations, volunteers need water to innovative method. Old ways of thinking may
fully clean recycled plastic bottles, but they also not necessarily be able to meet the challenge of
need to do what they can to conserve water to insufficient water during drought. We hope that
follow Master Cheng Yen’s call. How to reconcile we can have more sources of water in order to
the two seemingly contradictory tasks was at support the continued existence of the Jing Si
first a significant test of volunteers’ wisdom. tea plantation.”
Hanquan Lai, head of a recycling station Not only do Tzu Chi volunteers collect
in Taichung, was already collecting rainwater and conserve water drop by drop, the
at home to wash clothes and water plants. But organization’s philosophy is always to employ
then he realized that he could store rainwater as green construction principles, whether building
long as a year without it developing an odor, so offices, schools, hospitals, or recycling centers.
he gathered used pipes and metal sheets and Various environmentally friendly methods of
built a rainwater collection trough on the roof saving, collecting, and draining water have
of the recycling station, connecting it with pipes been developed and are producing positive
to a barrel within the station. results. For instance, various water-saving
Served by a submerged motor, the system materials and systems to recover and reuse
he devised makes it easy for volunteers to clean water have reduced the water used by Tzu Chi
bottles, wash hands, water plants, and more. University, Tzu Chi Hospital, and Tzu Chi College
With every fifty gallons of water collected, more of Technology by over twelve hundred tons
than three thousand plastic bottles can be annually.
cleaned, and these recycled bottles are then Hualien Tzu Chi General Hospital—which
remade into eco-friendly blankets that serve has been recognized with an Enterprise
the noble purpose of bringing warmth and Environmental Protection Award by Taiwan's
comfort to disaster survivors all around the Environmental Protection Agency—was
world. Thus, many noble goals are achieved in the first hospital in the country to employ a
a single process. rainwater collection system. Tzu Chi Foundation
In Miaoli County, spring harvest at the Department of Construction Director Minchao
Jing Si tea plantation is often hampered by Lin said, “Developing new sources and reducing
insufficient water. To overcome this problem, usage are the most appropriate ways to treat
Tzu Chi Foundation and National Taiwan our water resources. Wisely using rainwater is
University collaborated to develop a mist developing a new source, while constructing
collection net that condenses mist into water water-saving systems is reducing usage.”

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