Words and Pictures by Yang Jing-Yi, Translated by Cara Steenstra
Situated on JunFu Road in Beitun District is
the Taichung City Environmental Protection
Bureau's "Bao Zhi Lin" Recycling Center. It was
once a pre-fab house used by a school after a
disaster. Abandoned furniture is fixed up then
recycled and sold at a cheap price to the public.
The public's response was great and business
was good, and it received a grant from the
Environmental Protection Bureau to build it a
new home, becoming the first of its kind in
Taiwan, a center for environmental protection
education and recreational purposes. The Bao Zhi
Lin Artistic Environmental Protection
Commemoration Park was formally reopened in
August this year.
The park area is spacious, with a nice view of
greenery. Apart from the factory that renews
abandoned furniture, there is also a display area
for these recycled furniture, a classroom, a
pagoda, a pond and recreational facilities in the
park. There is also free wireless internet
connection in the facility.
The "Environmental Protection Classroom"
provides free classes for young school children
where they can learn how to craft various things
out of recycling daily objects. Children can learn about environmental protection through fun and games. Parents or school organizations interested in these activities could call the facility for more information. The "Hundred Year Old Furniture Display Center" has several pieces of furniture that are almost a century old. There are chairs that are remodeled from old Chinese plaques, redwood cupboards and even washbasins crafted from bamboo. These antiques regain their former glory with the careful touch of the technicians there. This display center is very popular, many recycled furniture that are put on display are quickly snapped up. What might have once been a discarded piece of furniture is transformed into something attractive by the technicians here. Smart consumers would have to move quickly. Their anniversary sale every December and January ought not to be missed either.
Take a walk along the garden paths at dusk and
you will hear the songs of birds and insects as
you take in the scene along the way. Bao Zhi Lin
not only provides the community with an educational environmental and multi-purpose
display areas, it also supplies the public with
money saving recycled furniture. Their belief in
environmental protection and their efforts in
educating the public in reusing and recycling are
definitely worth supporting.
Bao Zhi Lin File:
1008-1, JunFu Road, Beitun District, Taichung City
(opposite Jun Gong Elementary School)
(04) 2436-9702
http://www.tcepb.gov.tm/relove//index.asp
Hours: Mondays to Saturdays 8:30am- 5:00pm