The Taipei City Government said yesterday it had made progress in its eight-year campaign to reduce the amount of paper money and incense burned.
The city wants to reduce the air pollution caused by the burning of massive amounts of incense and paper money at local temples, Huang Lu Ching-ju (黃呂錦茹), secretary of the city’s Law and Regulation Commission, told a press conference.
It has been trying to improve the city’s air quality by collecting paper money and incense from temples to burn in the city’s incinerators and by replacing the stoves used at temples to burn paper money and incense with more environmentally friendly alternatives.
“When this project started in 2000, only 83.85 tonnes were given to the Taipei City Government to burn, Huang Lu said.
However, last year, there were 784.11 tonnes, showing that more people are supporting this effort,” Huang Lu said.
Wu Yung-mang (吳永猛), president of the Institute of Bao-Sheng Taoist Culture, said that Taiwan has worked to improve its politics and society.
“People must now concentrate on the environment and by supporting this cause, we are fulfilling our responsibility to the world by helping better the environment,” he said.
“Incense and paper money are a way for temples to collect revenue. However, we realized that we should focus on contributing to society, rather than raising money, which is why we joined this effort,” Longshan Temple vice president Huang Shu-wei (黃書瑋) said.
However, more than 60 percent of people aged 60 and above opposed the collective burning of paper money and incense, showing that this was a very traditional ritual and an important part of religious history, he said.
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