Together, let us solve our waste problem!

The key word is TOGETHER.

The first step to solve our waste problem is to accept our own personal role in creating the problem of waste. The so-called crucial behavioral change, the much-needed paradigm shift starts with, from us all.

Our waste problem begins with you/with us all. WE cause the waste problem.

Gratefully, together, WE are also the solution!

How?

Let us start by seeing and recognizing how our own waste that starts from our hands causes our waste problem.

Can you follow this waste trail?

1) Your own unsegregated waste, from your hands, from your household, together with unsegregated waste from other hands and households 2) is collected by garbage trucks, 3) is transported from your community/other communities, and, 4) is finally disposed of in Binaliw’s landfill.

This #1-4 waste trail is very expensive, costs about P600M a year for Cebu City, not to mention the costs to health of people, communities, and environment.

If everyone manages even just Step 1 of the waste trail, waste segregation will solve our waste problem, will translate into less costs and more benefits to people, communities, environment, especially for those in Binaliw.

Let us be more clear and graphic.

The waste problem/solution starts from Step 1!

From your hands and households, you dispose of your unsegregated waste (kitchen/food waste along with other types of waste- paper/ plastics, cans, bottles and more).

Sadly, you and your household are not the only ones disposing of kitchen/food wastes and other unsegregated garbage.

Imagine more of you and households in Cebu City dispose of unsegregated waste every day!

2023 Cebu City Population was 1,024, 940 and estimated at 1,042,610 for 2024, according to World Population Review.

Can you now see more clearly how unsegregated waste from your own hands/households and others’ create the mountain of basura with its bangaw/baho/stinky/unbearable foul odor/stench experienced by Binaliw residents 24 hours each day and for many years now?

However, can you also see how you, all of us together, can stop the baho/ bangaw/basura from harming Binaliw residents and environment?

All it takes is for you, for us all, for everyone, everywhere, TOGETHER - at home, communities, schools, churches, businesses, industries – to simply manage your/our own hands, segregate/reduce/reuse/recycle, adopt more options and convert wastes into useful items/alternatives.

For kitchen/food wastes, can you spare 5 minutes/less of your daily time to 1) chop, squeeze dry these wastes, 2) layer in soil a lasagna or club sandwich, and 3) make compost instead?

Can you try this today?

If everyone finds time to arrange chopped, squeezed/dried kitchen/food wastes in between layers of soil (bottom and top layer should be soil), everyone will soon discover that there will no longer be any problem of foul odor/dirty garbage at all in their households/ communities, no more stinky/dirty garbage to be collected by trucks!

LGUs that are seriously implementing or will implement the No Segregation, No Collection policy will certainly stop Step 1 of the problematic conventional waste trail and will encourage household/community composting, waste prevention and better eco-friendlier waste management options and save huge waste costs!

Segregated waste can be diverted by/to LGUs, existing groups/ organizations/businesses that already manage bio-composting, paper/bottle/glass/other waste types, even plastics!

DENR/EMB-7, in its well-attended 2024 September 26-27 Waste Summit, successfully informed multiple stakeholders about eco-friendly waste segregation success stories of groups/schools/LGUs/businesses as well as available technologies/services/products related to management of various segregated waste types.

Significantly, collected plastic wastes in ecobricks, thankfully, can be forwarded by EMB-7 to TUFFWOW Corporation (Toledo United Farmers/Fishermen/Men/Women Workers Federation) for hollow block (eco-cast and eco-pavers) production!

Moving forward from their Waste Summit, EMB-7 can proceed to widely produce precious information about segregated waste eco-friendly success stories and available technologies/services/products to convince or inspire more to work together to solve the waste problem.