Meaningful Earth Day’s Activities Conducted by BLIA Members -- Caring for Mother Earth Starts at Home

To mark the 2014 Earth Day celebration, BLIA North Island Chapter President Dolly Tsai, Venerables Rulian and Miaoyu put care and words into actions by organising a series of activities to clean up the Temple and its compound. The activities were held on 21 April which was one day before the Earth Day and attracted the participation of 50 BLIA members.
Participants were organised into 8 groups with each group assigned a team leader and allocated a set of tasks. These tasks ranged from sweeping and cleaning of Temple’s compound, weeding and gardening to cleaning Temple’s public areas, windows, stairs and kitchen. The entire Temple and its compound were transformed into an even more magnificent and tranquil stage within a mere 2 hour of collaborative work by BLIA members.
Upon completion of assigned duties, participants were rewarded an Earth Day documentary show which was followed by reading of Master Hsing Yun’s Earth Day prayer and making of commemorative speeches. In their speeches, both Venerable Rulian and Dolly Tsai reminded members to be mindful of using our resources to leave our planet in a sustainable condition to our future generations. Venerable Rulian reiterated that in order to influence our society, we need to set ourselves good standard and example. Only then our communities will lend their supports and hail our actions. Dolly Tsai mentioned that being vegetarian is not only a healthy life style but also protects Mother Earth because vegetarian diet generates lower carbon emissions compared to other diets.
All participants were later treated to an outdoor sumptuous and tasty vegetarian meal with members enjoying their afternoon meals in the setting of architecturally landscaped garden, shrubs and trees. This magnificent sensation makes one realizes the importance of protecting our planet Earth.