「以米代金」創新祭祀方式，台南市環保祭祀理念深入人心

台南市政府推動的「替代燒、適量燒、集中燒」紙錢減量政策，取得了顯著成果，展現了在尊重傳統信仰的同時，也能兼顧環保的努力。

The Tainan City Government's paper money reduction policy of "burning instead, burning in moderation, and burning intensively" has achieved remarkable results, demonstrating its efforts to respect traditional beliefs while also taking into account environmental protection. According to the latest statistics, this year's "rice in lieu of gold" policy implemented by the city government has accumulated more than 83,000 kilograms of rice, setting a record high;

根據最新統計，今年市府推行的「以米代金」政策，累積了超過8萬3000公斤米，創下歷史新高；

而「以功代金」的金額則超過新台幣350萬元，相較於往年有明顯的成長，反映出市民對環保祭祀的逐漸認同。

and the amount of "merit in lieu of gold" exceeded NT$3.5 million, a significant increase compared with previous years, reflecting the public's gradual recognition of environmentally friendly sacrifices.

台南市長黃偉哲今日於台灣首廟天壇舉行的「功德迴向祈安法會」擔任主祭，並強調民俗信仰與環境保護同樣重要，市府將以循序漸進的方式推行相關政策，配合完善的配套措施，讓市民在信仰需求與環保意識之間找到平衡。

Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe served as the officiant at the "Prayer Ceremony for Dedicating Merits" held at the Temple of Heaven, the capital of Taiwan, today. He emphasized that folk beliefs and environmental protection are equally important. The city government will implement relevant policies in a step-by-step manner, with complete supporting measures, so that citizens can find a balance between their religious needs and environmental awareness.

黃偉哲指出，台南市已經設立了兩座「淨圓滿紙錢專用爐」，並鼓勵市民採取「以功代金」和「以米代金」的方式，這不僅符合傳統慎終追遠的美德，也響應了國際間的淨零碳排潮流，降低了因焚燒紙錢而帶來的空氣污染問題。

Huang Weizhe pointed out that Tainan City has set up two "special furnaces for net perfect paper money" and encourages citizens to adopt the methods of "paying money with merit" and "paying rice with money". This is not only in line with the traditional virtue of being prudent and pursuing the future, but also responds to the international trend of net-zero carbon emissions and reduces the air pollution problem caused by burning paper money.

市府環保局也表示，今年的紙錢集中處理成效顯著，除了東區虎尾寮試辦設置的4座紙錢集中箱外，今年中元節期間更集運了980公斤的紙錢，比去年增加了900公斤。

The Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau also stated that this year’s centralized processing of paper money has achieved remarkable results. In addition to the four paper money concentration boxes set up on a trial basis at Huwei Liao in the East District, 980 kilograms of paper money were consolidated and transported during the Ghost Festival this year, an increase of 900 kilograms from last year. In addition,

此外，市府與全聯合作設立了24處紙錢集中箱，未來還將繼續擴點，以進一步推動環保祭祀。

the city government has cooperated with the National Federation to set up 24 paper money collection boxes, and will continue to expand the number of locations in the future to further promote environmentally friendly sacrifices. The number of applications for community buildings has also increased by 45%, showing that the concept of environmentally friendly sacrifices is gradually gaining popularity among the people.

社區大樓的申請載運次數也增加了45%，顯示環保祭祀的理念逐漸深入民心。

Staff from the Environmental Protection Bureau explained that "replacing gold with merit" refers to donating the money that should be used to purchase gold paper to disadvantaged groups, while "replacing gold with rice" encourages citizens to use rice as a sacrifice instead of gold paper.

環保局人員解釋，「以功代金」是指將本應用來購買金紙的錢捐助給弱勢團體，而「以米代金」則是鼓勵市民以米代替金紙作為祭品，祭祀後可將米帶回家，不僅減少焚燒金紙所造成的污染，還保留了祭拜的意義。這些措施使傳統祭拜活動變得更加環保，並且有助於提升市民的環境意識。

After the sacrifice, the rice can be taken home. This not only reduces the pollution caused by burning gold paper, but also retains the meaning of worship. These measures make traditional worship activities more environmentally friendly and help raise citizens' environmental awareness.