At the spiritual home of Tzu Chi members, the Abode of Still Thoughts, people coexist with the earth and fuse their emotions with their surroundings, whether it be a drop of water, a swaying tree or a gentle breeze. At the Abode of Still Thoughts, people are always grateful to nature, so they cherish natural resources and protect the environment throughout their lives.

The nuns at the Abode live simply and implement the spirit of cherishing their natural surroundings by protecting them. This spirit stems from their passion for the land and Master Cheng Yen's strong belief in environmental protection. The nuns have developed a life ethic, in which their lives are carried out with concern for the natural world.

Turning Garbage Into Gold

All the living creatures in this world grow and live together and depend on each other. Recognizing this, the nuns do not use pesticide on the vegetable garden at the Abode, but instead nourish the plants with natural fertilizer. Compost is the best natural organic fertilizer, and the garden creates its own compost. For example, the leaves and stems of the garden's beans are edible, and the roots decompose, returning their organic components to nature as fertilizer.

The nuns at the Abode also make a practice of reusing waste materials. In the early days of the Abode, resident nuns collected wood blocks from the mountains, wood chips from wood shops and peanut shells from cooking oil shops as fuel for cooking. More recently, they have collected waste paper from the trash, wood chips from wood shops, wooden molds from building sites, and wooden boxes. This trash, which would otherwise be dumped, is recycled by the Tzu Chi environmental protection volunteers.

Following ancient wisdom, the nuns make the best use of each plant. Using resources fully is a motto for environmental protection at the Abode. For example, pomelo skins can be used as fertilizer, but if they are dried, they can be burned to repel mosquitoes. How wonderful it is that natural resources can be used in so many ways!

The nuns use natural detergents like soybean powder to wash pots and dishes, so there is no need to worry about harmful residue from chemical detergents. In addition, after the dishes are washed, the powder sediment can be used as fertilizer and the water can be used to water the crops. Every part is used and nothing is wasted.

Cherishing Resources Is Protecting Them

The nuns' clothes are all made from recycled cloth. The nuns choose less-polluting laundry detergent to reduce the use of chemical products. They wash their clothes by hand and dry them in the sunshine. This not only saves energy, but also sterilizes the clothes.

Using space for multiple purposes can reduce furniture purchases and it also wastes less space. A TV stand can be a storage box. There are drawers under the beds and in the wardrobes. In addition, there are shuttle buses between the Tzu Chi Hospital, the train station, and the Abode. People who need to go out can travel together to reduce the usage of vehicles, to save energy and to reduce air pollution.

Environmental Protection in the Office

The offices use recycled paper in order to reduce the number of trees chopped down. Both sides of the paper are used. When the office faxes messages, they only fax the section that has the message in order to reduce the use of fax paper. Reusable stationary items are often used, such as paper clips instead of staples. They use new envelopes only for mailing letters. Otherwise, envelopes are reused until they are seriously torn. Empty bottles are used as decoration. The office exemplifies the concept of beautifying our life simply and naturally.