Starting this year, Taoyuan City has launched garbage collection and disposal operations on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, beginning on February 13th. Despite concerted efforts made prior to the Lunar New Year through various channels to promote the policy of "garbage only, no red envelopes" among sanitation workers, appreciative citizens still expressed their gratitude to the sanitation teams by offering red envelopes and gifts while disposing of garbage, as tokens of appreciation for the diligent efforts sanitation workers exemplify year-round to maintain cleanliness in the city and manage waste disposal. This year, approximately NT$156,220 worth of red envelopes, which could not be immediately returned, were collected. In response, the Taoyuan City Department of Environmental Protection (TYDEP) has decided to donate the entire sum to social welfare organizations, thereby perpetuating the public's spirit of kindness and generosity.
Director-General Shi-wei Chen of the TYDEP noted that while the public's kindness adds warmth to the winter for sanitation workers, it's important to adhere to regulations that prohibit civil servants from accepting gifts. Therefore, the red envelopes and gifts that sanitation workers were unable to return immediately due to their busy garbage collection schedule have been collected by each team. These items will be uniformly handled by the Government Ethics Office for processing refused gifts in line with established regulations. The entirety of the sum will be directed towards social welfare organizations, thereby allowing the public's goodwill to manifest into acts of kindness and extend warmth to more families in need.
Director Shu-hao Chang of the Office of Environmental Management emphasized that collecting household garbage falls within the purview of sanitation workers' duties, and all the public needs to do is express gratitude to these workers while disposing of garbage. He also expressed hope that everyone can collaborate to implement garbage sorting and promote a green lifestyle among all citizens, collectively upholding cleanliness in the city. According to Chang, this effort represents the greatest and most thoughtful gift that can be bestowed upon sanitation workers.