To Hornor the Sanitation Team

In the garbage treatment program in Taipei, the contribution of the sanitation team was absolutely vital. The “miracle” took advantage of their earnest cooperation with the citizens. In order to well understand the condition of collecting garbage on the spot, we visited Wufenpu Sanitation Team nearby. When we entered the office of the team leader, Mr. Zhang Yuan De greeted us with enthusiasm. We discovered there were rows of chairs in the room. They looked familiar and we knew they were the recycling chairs from the primary school. The unit deserved to be called the good example of recycling resources.

The Agenda of the Sanitation Team

From all the daily agenda, several points could be drawn, Mr. Zheng said. First, the sanitation team had to leave the office at 6:00 to work in the morning because they hoped to give a clean environment for the citizens before they went to school or went to work. Before to work, they have to put on their uniform and check their equipment. The waistcoats, safe shoes, gloves, and masks were the basic outfit. Second, the sanitation team had to sweep the floor at 6:30. Each of them had their own section to be responsible for. Finally, the key work was to collect the garbage in the evening. The roll call would be finished at 4:30 p.m. They had to work from 5:00 in the evening to 12:00 at midnight. Usually, they came back home at daybreak in the next day. In addition, they had to clean the gutters in the city once half a year.

 

Social Convention of Waiting for the Garbage Truck

Continuously, Mr. Zhen aimed at the points we asked to explain how to collect the garbage.

Mr. Zheng said, “We are busiest on Monday and Thursday because we don’t collect the garbage on Sunday and Wednesday. The busiest time is at 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. since most families have finished cooking dinner or are eating dinner during this time and they have time to deliver the garbage.”

“What’s your opinions about citizens’ waiting for the garbage truck?”, we asked?

Mr. Zhen answered pleasedly, “Generally speaking, Taipei citizens are always on their best behavior. Now, to throw away the garbage in Taipei is some like the social convention. When waiting for the garbage truck, the neighbors would say hello to each other. In the course of time, waiting for the garbage truck seems to become one of the social conventions in Taipei.”

“For example, there are two good things we could ascribe to waiting for the garbage truck”, Mr. Zheng said. One was the encounter between two old friends who had separated for more than decades and they didn’t know they lived in the some community. One day when they were waiting for the garbage truck they met together and they had the chance to chat about old times. Another was a story of the happy fate which brought lovers together. There was a young man who was so diligent to help throw the garbage every day. An old couple thought the youth as a soft and kind person and introduced the youth and their daughter to know each other. Finally, they performed a marriage and lived a happy life.

After listening to the explanation of Mr. Zheng, all of us laughed loudly. To our surprise, we knew the social convention of throwing the garbage took so many advantages.

The Dignity of the Sanitation Team

Moreover, Mr. Zheng said, “We were so glad to see the quantity of garbage had decreased gradually in Taipei. And Taipei citizens were polite. When we collected the garbage, they would always express their thanks to us. Approximately, one way to collect the garbage we would receive more than one hundred of people who gave their thanks to us.”

“When we carried out the policy of ‘No Garbage on the Ground’, we got an additive value. That is, the work of the sanitation team becomes respectable. Before the policy, the team members would collect the garbage by themselves. They often stained their clothes. And now, the citizens were waiting for the garbage truck and throwing the garbage into the truck by themselves. The team members only took a look by the side of the truck, and sometime they helped to move the heavy thing. The citizens would say thanks to them when they play a help. So I think the sanitation team receives more respect now“, Mr. Chen Shi Hong, Minister of Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R. O. C. (Taiwan), said.

Mr. Chen Shi Hong, minister of ?Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R. O. C. (Taiwan)

Exactly, we saw each member in the sanitation team did their work seriously.
They took their work as the most important in the world. That is why most citizens in
Taipei think Taipei is an infinitely clean city.

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