Have you ever wondered how much waste or garbage you accumulate and throw away each day? Do you segregate the bio-degradable from the non-biodegradable and pack them securely before bringing out for pick up by the garbage collector? Do you consciously find ways and means to minimize waste generated by your household?
Garbage Here, There and Everywhere
The last typhoon in July not only caused property devastation and dislocation of some people. It also revealed the repulsive amount of garbage that has accumulated in our rivers, seas and waterways. This was evident not only in the truckloads of garbage gathered by MMDA from Manila Bay1 some of which reached the expensive and highly criticized dolomite sand-covered beach, but also in the waist-deep, murky flood waters that inundated many streets due to garbage clogging up our canals.
Garbage from Where?
In a 2013 study regarding the status of solid waste management in the Philippines, it was established that on the average, every person in Metro Manila generates 0.7kg of garbage per day, 0.5kg in other urban areas and 0.3kg in rural areas.2 Eight years thereafter, and with the increase in population and economic activities in the country, the volume of garbage generation per individual have most likely proportionately increased.
Whose Fault Is It?
We blame the government for irresponsible street diggings, delayed road infrastructure projects and poor waste management system. At the same time, we also continue to fail in our individual responsibility as community members to take decisive steps aimed at reducing if not eliminating garbage generated and carelessly dumped by our own household.
What Can We Do?
As gardening enthusiasts and private citizens, we can all become part of the solution rather than be one of the problems on the issue of garbage.
Squeeze out your creative juices to upcycle, downcycle and recycle and make wise buying decisions.
UPCYCLE
If you have a potential waste item, convert it into another reusable form by upgrading or changing its use while retaining its original form.
💚 Build natural plant hangers using branches cut from trees with sturdy, hard wood like the endemic Alagaw tree. Its baby leaves can also be used for fresh vegetable salad with lettuce, blue ternatea flowers mixed with vinagrette dressing and parmesan cheese.
💚If you are changing into aluminum and glass panel windows, convert your old French window iron casings into horizontal pot hangers or vertical photo holders.
💚Tired of cleaning your old, rusty brass containers with lemon and baking soda? Give it a fresh, new look by painting the surfaces with enamel paint and decorative art.
💚Give your old, worn-out cabinets a new lease in life by repairing and repainting with lively colors and using it for storing your gardening tools and supplies.
💚 Use marble tile scraps to cover your rock garden. They look elegant during the day and beautiful under the moonlight.
💚Repaint and hang your old gate on the wall as trellis for your vine.
DOWNCYCLE
When you have a potential waste item that can still be used for another purpose that is less than the original use for which it was intended, think twice before throwing it away.
💚Use condiment containers from take-out stores for marcotting small branches in the absence of plastic bags or commercial rooting boxes.
💚 Transparent plastic bread boxes can be used to group and secure newly planted cuttings. This makes it easy to push, pull and lift them together as one container when watering or rotating the plants to get the needed sunlight. Bore a hole in all corners using a soldering iron to allow water to drain. You can also put them under your pots to prevent soil marks on the flooring.
💚 Plastic paint containers or water bottles can be converted to composting bins for biodegradable kitchen refuse like vegetable cuttings, banana and fruit peels. Using a soldering iron or a heated nail tip, bore holes at the bottom and sides about 1/2 centimeter in diameter to allow air circulation. Cover with old cloth and secure with a rope or string around the mouth of the container.
💚 Big water bottles can be used to display beautiful garden stones where you can put your succulents "on the rocks." Use the plastic cover of paper bowls to prevent water drippings under the pot.
💚 Grocery cans and used chopsticks are helpful when mixing paint. The rectangular plastic containers used to pack take-out food and native delicacies are ideal to use when painting with a roller brush because of its elevated center that allows the paint to flow down on the sides.
💚 Convert an old shoe rack into a plant display rack using scrap wood from scaffoldings.
💚 Old clothes hangers can be used as plant hangers which are ideal when you have limited garden space.
RECYCLE
When you convert a potential waste material into a new, reusable form that is different from the original, you are recycling.
💚 Transform your kitchen refuse such as vegetable trimmings and fruit peels into organic fertilizer. Put them in a composting bin every night and alternate with soil to promote faster decomposition. You can also include green and brown leaves gathered from the yard. Cover the bin and place in a bright, sunny area. This will also spare you from flies flying over stinking wet garbage when the garbage truck fails to collect your trash as scheduled.
💚 Collect eggs shells, wash thoroughly, soak in boiling water to kill any salmonella bacteria and dry them under the sun until crispy. Pound or grind until the shells are sugar-fine and store in dry containers. Use as fertilizer by incorporating into the soil.
BUY WISELY
Before deciding to buy, acquire or bring any item to your home, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I really need it or do I just want it?
2. How will I dispose of it after its useful life - its container, packaging, and the item itself.
Garbage in, garbage out. The more potential waste item you bring in, the more garbage you will have to bring out.
Care to Care for Garbage Collectors
Come to think of it - if we all do these, your garbage men, who almost always are not provided with protective gloves while at work, will not have to handle wet, stinking and unsorted garbage coming from your residence.
As community workers essential for keeping our surroundings clean and healthy, they deserve not only our cooperation but also courtesy and respect while in the performance of their duties through our observance of proper waste disposal practices from our homes.
The After-life of Junk
Nothing is forever. After all is said and done, the usefulness of upcycled, downcycled or recycled junk will come to an end.
But while you may find that waste disposal continues to be a problem, you nevertheless slowed down, in the interim, the volume of waste generation in your area and benefited from what would have otherwise been a useless piece of trash.
Dream for the Future
Hopefully and in the immediate future, the local government units which by law are responsible for ensuring a system of efficient and effective waste management system in their respective communities shall have found a better and sustainable solution to our garbage problem.
The important thing is you did your part of the solution and shall continue to do so conscientiously and without fail.
Imagine a garbage-free environment!
You may email me at greencraftivist@gmail.com for any questions or inquiries.
Apple Bleza-Morales
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References:
1 MMDA Conducts Cleanup Operations in Manila Bay - Press Release, 26 July 2021, PR-21-07-064, MMDA, mmda.gov.ph
2 Status of Solid Waste Management in the Philippines by Alicia Castillo, University of Kitakyushu, Japan, www.jstage.jst.go.jp
About the Author:
Apple (or Maybelle in the corporate setting) is an HR Professional who is passionately immersed in home and community gardening as well as related arts and crafts. She completed post baccalaureate studies in Human Resources and Organization Development at De La Salle College of Saint Benilde and holds a Master's Degree in Industrial Relations from the University of the Philippines with focus in Human Resources Development.
Thank you! It was so informative and practical! Learned so much!❤
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