Public urged to have 'green' Christmas, set up eco-gardens

MANILA, Philippines - An organization campaigning to achieve zero waste urged the public yesterday to compost and set up eco-gardens to prevent garbage from increasing during the holiday season.

The EcoWaste Coalition said that biodegradable waste could be easily dealt with through composting. It also stressed that “intensive” composting would prevent offensive smell from rotting trash and minimize the emission of chemical pollutants that aggravate the climate.

“Biodegradable waste is the largest fraction of municipal solid waste,” said Rei Panaligan, coordinator of EcoWaste.

“By separating our discards at source and turning organics into compost, we already solve half of our garbage problem and avoid a stinking mess that can ruin the Christmas celebration,” he added.

Citing government data, Eco-Waste said Metro Manila’s garbage generation usually increases in December from around 3,000-4,000 tons per day on regular days to 5,000-6,000 tons daily during the Christmas holidays.

Advocates of zero waste noted the need for every household, school, barangay and the various commercial and industrial establishments to set up their composting systems that will suit their waste volume and their physical and space conditions.

“Composting will help cut the formation and emission of methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 25 times the climatic impact than carbon dioxide from mixed waste dumps and landfills,” Panaligan pointed out.

“We can stop methane releases from dumpsites by ensuring that our biodegradable discards are duly composted. We can similarly reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by producing safe organic inputs for our gardens and farms from composting,” he added.

In a recent seminar initiated by the group, Dr. Raffy Barrozo, board member of the Zero Waste Recycling Movement of the Philippines and director of the Organic Center at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, shared his expertise on the many innovative ways of composting using clay pot, bin or bag, tower tire, twin pit, and bottomless composters.

Barrozo said that setting up eco-gardens could provide extra livelihood for community members, with vegetables, fruits and herbs that can be grown and harvested for food and for health and medicinal purposes.