ROAD SENSE
It’s no secret that the Philippines has a problem with solid waste management and we do not need numbers to tell us how much waste we generate. After long holidays when the garbage collectors have not passed along their routes, bags of waste pile up many feet high at street corners or empty lots. At the public parks after Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, garbage trucks take many trips to clear the area of tons of waste, the number becoming big enough to make it to the news.
How much waste does your household generate? That’s a good question to answer. Think about how much of that you can cut and you’ll be contributing to reducing the country’s solid waste management problem.
I learned much about how to be conscious about cutting waste recently when I visited my son in New Zealand. It took much effort for me to catch the habit, starting with a mindset on waste segregation.
My son and his family – and the other families there – are segregating waste as a matter of habit because the government’s waste collection program requires them to do that. First of all, the waste bins have names and addresses and were registered with the property, which is recorded in city hall. The resident with unsegregated waste is identifiable and will get a citation.
The other reason for segregation is the size of the waste bin. (Each property has three color-coded waste bins for general garbage, recyclable materials, and harmful items, with designated collection schedules.). A resident has to be mindful of the amount of garbage disposed. An overflowing waste bin will not be collected. (My son said the government is planning to reduce the size of the waste bin for general waste items, which means residents will have to do more to reduce their waste.)
To reduce their garbage, my son has a compost box for food waste. That became my “compost garden” as I took it as my task to discard the food waste. For that, I learned how to use the shovel. Since that was my first time to do that, I became charmed by the process and I took much time to mix the soil with the food waste. I also closely observed what things decomposed faster than the rest. Banana peel, for example, seemed to become tougher as it interacted with the soil. The process of decomposition was slow became it was close to winter when I was there. (My compost garden became an interesting activity, but I know I cannot do that in my home here as it will attract ants and rats.)
Segregating items that can be recycled reduced the garbage in the general waste bin. I washed and dried the cans of Spam, corned beef, shampoo containers, and plastic trays of the fresh meat products, and folded each plastic bag. All these were placed in the bin for recycling.
The boxes that once contained appliances, toys, and diapers were flattened and would be brought to the disposal and recycling facility in the next town.
Paper – paper bags, small boxes, wrappers, newspapers – were placed in a basket near the fire furnace to help start the fire.
Anything that could not fit the designated waste bins we took to the recycling and disposal facility. Large bins marked for plastics, cans, flattened cardboard boxes, glass bottles line one side of the facility. At the back is a large area where old house appliances like refrigerators and washing machines were disposed.
General waste items which could not fit our designated waste bin we took to the facility. There, we drove through a ramp where the vehicle’s weight was taken before it entered an area where we dumped the garbage; then weighed again to determine the waste disposal fee. A very efficient system. ( I learned that people who lived too far from a waste collection route also dispose of their garbage that way.)
That experience in my son’s home in New Zealand made me realize that the source of waste – which is the household – is a major factor in solid waste management. The waste starts from the home where efforts in segregation can contribute much to waste management. Although waste segregation has long been pushed by the barangays, I don’t see it implemented as efficiently here. The reason is many residents resist that and still put all the garbage not only in one bin but in bags, boxes, baskets – one on top of the other — while waiting for the garbage collectors to come.
Since there is no specific day when trucks come to collect general waste, recyclables, or harmful materials, even if a household segregates, I wonder how that all is identifiable when it reaches the same garbage truck and dumpsite.
Waste is not a small matter to leave to chance or to the good hearts of people.