Eco Toys – Fun, Affordable, and Eco-Friendly 慈大環保玩具教學 手作又好玩

Photo/Text: Media and Public Relation
Translation: Fang Kai-Ping
“It is amazing how these fascinating toys are made out of trash!”
Tzu Chi University volunteer club Sichuan Love (TCUSCLove) invited recycling toy maker Huang Tsai Cheng on March 27 to teach TCU students on how to piece together children’s favorite toys with recycled materials. A seemingly dull PET bottle can transform into spinning tops, rats, rockets, or even magic tools, and recycled chopsticks can be assembled into a launching pad for bamboo-copters.
「原來垃圾可以做成這麼好玩的玩具喔」慈濟大學川愛志工團隊邀請環保玩具達人黃財正（3/27日）教導同學如何讓回收物變成小朋友喜愛的玩具，一個普通的寶特瓶可以變身成陀螺、老鼠、火箭、魔術玩具等等，還有回收的筷子成為竹蜻蜓最好的發射站，大家玩得非常開心。

TCUSCLove has been hosting activities in Fuyuan Primary during the semester, and taught recycling at Sichuan and Gansu, China during summer break. To provide fellow students with sufficient knowledge to host camps in Taiwan and China for youths, TCUSCLove invited Huang Tsai-Cheng, an expert toymaker.
慈濟大學川愛志工團隊，學期中深耕花蓮在富源國小舉辦活動，暑假期間前進中國四川和甘肅帶領當地學生環保回收。而為了讓同學在辦營隊時能帶給台灣和大陸的青少年更多豐富的知識和遊戲，特別邀請黃財政老師來教大家。

Huang has been an advocate for eco toys for years. His inspiration came from the bottles and cans young students drank and tossed aside after an intense exercise. As he pick these bottles and cans up one by one, an idea began to brew: why don’t I transform these abandoned wastes into splendid toys? As of today, Huang has invented over 200 eco toys, and has been promoting the concept on campuses nationwide.
黃財正老師致力於環保玩具推廣，他表示常看到年輕學生們在艷陽之下玩耍，口渴了就喝水喝飲料，喝完了，就隨手將空罐丟棄在一旁。他邊散步邊拾起地上的瓶瓶罐罐，心中開始有了新的想法，何不把這些廢棄的垃圾，變成一個又一個有趣的玩具呢？現在他已研發超過200種環保玩具，並致力於到校園推廣。

Prior to the sharing, SCLove members collected PET bottles, disposable chopsticks, and elastic bands from the recycling station, for the key to eco toys is to complete every step of the process hands-on. “The remaining pieces you have cut off from the PET bottles can be recycled! Do not throw them into the trash bin,” Huang reminded the students.
川愛志工團隊先到慈濟環保站收集寶特瓶、竹筷、橡皮筋等等，環保玩具最大的樂趣是每一項都要自己動手完成，黃財正老師提醒大家：剪下來的用不到寶特瓶的其他部位也是可以回收的喔！千萬不要丟到垃圾桶。｣

By using the front and end of the PET bottle, you can easily assemble a simple spinning top. Hsu I-Yung, a third-year student in the department of human development, toss the eco spinning top into the air, and had it landed successfully while spinning, which surprised even him. He used to live in the countryside, where his parents denied him access to video games, and spinning top, costing NT15 at local convenient stores, was the toy that accompanied him through childhood, Hsu said. He was accustomed to wooden ones and doubted the light plastic spinning top would work, and the result surprised him. Hsu said that the best thing about making toys out of recycled materials is that every parts are safe for children, recyclable when disassembled, and eco-friendly.
利用寶特瓶的前後段，就可以完成一個簡單的陀螺，人發系三年級徐羿永將環保陀螺丟出去，成功地站立旋轉，連他自己都很驚訝，徐同學表示，以前因為住在鄉下，父母不讓他玩電動遊戲，所以陀螺是從小的玩具，到雜貨店買差不多15元一個，對於拿習慣木製陀螺的他來說，他覺得環保陀螺太輕了，不可能成功，沒想到還真的可以旋轉。徐同學覺得用回收品做玩具最棒的就是每一個材質都很安全，玩完了還可以拆解回收，非常環保。

The most unique aspect of eco toys is that it utilizes the physical principles, such as pullback motors with elastic band and battery, is the application of Hooke’s law. “This is simple and fun, while learning physics on the side,” said Yan Shan-Hua, a student from Tzu Chi High School.
環保玩具最特別的就是還應用到物理原理，像是迴力車，簡單的橡皮筋和電池，就是｢虎克定律｣(彈性定律)的利用。慈濟中學楊姍嬅同學表示，簡單又好玩，還可以順便學物理。

A eco toy takes approximately 20 minutes to assemble. TCU faculty Peng Hui-Yu brought her children along to listen in. “We normally buy our toys,” she said. “Now we know that the containers we used to drink with can also be made into toys, it is a valuable lesson.”
一個環保玩具差不多只要花20分鐘就可以完成，慈大職員彭惠玉帶孩子參加，她表示，平時的玩具都是買的，上了這堂課才知道原來孩子喝的東西也可以變成玩具，是很好的學習教材。

Bamboo copters, spinning tops, pullback motors, and cartesian diver were assembled one after another. Huang Yun-Yu, the organizer of this event, said that the purpose of this sharing is for children to understand that, with a little creativity, the discarded wastes can be transformed into amazing eco toys that cost nothing. Another aim, Huang Yun-Yu pointed out, is to facilitate passion in children about science.
竹蜻蜓，陀螺，迴力車，魔術浮沉子等等一個個完成，負責籌辦這次活動的川愛志工隊黃韻宇表示，利用環保玩具吸引小朋友，告訴大家只要發揮創意回收物就是可以再利用的，透過手作，不需花大錢，不需複雜的工具，在過程中，同時學到環保知識，啟發小朋友的創意，對科學產生興趣，進而能夠利用與應用，是這堂課最大的目的。