Environmental protection

In its three years as advocacy partner of Runrio’s Earth Day Run, the Tzu Chi Foundation has introduced thousands of runners to practical, easy, and sustainable ways to protect the Earth and its natural resources.

In the past, volunteers have sold plant-based sandwiches and snacks, durable floor mats woven from the excess material of sports socks, and all-purpose cleaners made with fermented fruit and vegetable peels. Through its Charity Run for Education, it debuted Earth-friendly innovations like the reusable collapsible hydration cup and race shirts using material processed from single-use PET bottles.

More importantly, the tireless efforts of volunteers constantly clearing the grounds of trash and segregating them in marked bins has made runners conscious about keeping the post-race area clean and litter-free.

For Tzu Chi Deputy CEO Woon Ng, raising awareness about the need to take better care of our environment is critical.

Thus, simply knowing that nature needs protecting is not enough. “We encourage people to do it. It has to be Do-It-Yourself. It has to be hands-on,” says Ng. “We’re trying to pave the way for the next generation. This is for their future.”

The game is a nod to TCY’s upcoming mangrove-planting project. “Mangroves are warriors of our coastal lines,” explains TCY volunteer Alex Wu. “Mangroves live between the ocean and the land, and when they are planted, their roots attach to the soil to make them stable.” With this stability, dense mangroves act as a natural buffer against destructive storm surges.

Later, before thousands of finishers of the 1KM, 5KM, 10KM, and 21KM race categories, TCY volunteers walked the stage sporting high-quality clothing and accessories by DA.AI Technology, global pioneers of recycled-to-recycled products. The social enterprise arm of Tzu Chi creates various products—hats, bags, sunglasses, blankets, even Tzu Chi volunteers’ uniforms—using fabric and materials upcycled from PET bottles.