1. Do not use plastic bags! I don't know how many times have I said that in this in this blog. just don't, please. They clog the drainage and they don't decompose. Thanks to Muntinlupa's mayor for seriously injecting that in my mind. Late 2010 - Mayor started advertising the use of reusable Bags (or bayongs!) for EVERYTHING. By January 2011, he had this strictly implemented. Businesses didn't take this seriously, until he showed the whip by shutting 2 famous fast food businesses who violated.
Eventually all shops (AND RESIDENTS, including me!) became well trained on this rule. When you go to Muntinlupa now, you can't expect the cashier to hand you a plastic bag, even if you already look so "kawawa" for not having anything to lift your groceries. When you buy something small, the bagger won't bother to give you a small paper bag too, assuming that anything small can be put straight in your bag anyway. A few months ago, my sister's "PA" (who is not from muntinlupa) bought coconuts in a wet market near our village. When he asked for a big plastic bag, the vendor gave him a DUH face and asked, "taga san ka? ndi ka taga muntinlupa noh."
If Muntinlupa can do this by heart, others can. Just 1-2 weeks practice will make you trained enough. Just try!
2. Segregate. Most of us don't see the difference is segregating trash vs not -- Most probably think that, "They all go to the garbage truck anyway. And they all go to the dump site anyway.". No, that's not what really happens. Clean paper, plastic and tin products are scavenged by basureros, and they sell it in junk shops. WHY, junk shops buy these stuff for:
Karton- P6.00/kilo
Newspaper - P4.00/kilo
White paper - P11.00/kilo
Waste paper - P2.25/kilo
Bakal - P18.00/kilo
Lata - P8.00/kilo
Tapa - P15/kilo
Yero - P11.75/kilo
..approximately. These vary of course, depends on the junk shop / location. Got this one from here. obviously, as they say: may pera sa basura. Our family never got aware of this until WE DID A GENERAL CLEANING of our house, and disposed about 20 years worth of dirt -- We sold papers, boxes, plastic containers, etc. Since it was faster and even money-making than throwing them straight to the bin (they can't fit in the bin to begin with). nalinis na ang bahay, kumita pa kami.
My point is not to make money out of junk (added perk nalang yun). MY POINT IS just segregate trash so that someone else can scavenge the clean items. This will definitely lessen the trash that will eventually go to the dump sites. I know you're thinking "what if di naman nagkakalkal ang basurero namin para sa junk shop, so what's the point?" -- segregate still. Remember, this scavenging thing happens "to the Nth power" before the trash reaches the dump site (meron at merong magkakalkal ng basurang tinapon mo)
3. Minimize carbon emission. Summarizing Al Gore's campaign to CHANGE NOW to STOP GLOBAL WARMING (see www.climatecrisis.net) - Do not contribute to carbon emission. Too much carbon dioxide in our air now is locking the sun's heat inside our atmosphere, instead of bouncing it back outside. It causes the ice meltdown, the change in ocean temperature (and behavior), and ultimately, it causes severe drought in some places and severe floods for the rest (like in the Phils, apparently!).
There are many ways to minimize emission in our everyday lives (by following this list for example). As for me, I always discourage lou from bringing his car. His car is parked almost permanently in Bulacan because (tama naman to) he thinks it's more costly to have it here in Manila because of parking fees, gas, toll, etc. But when he asks if I want a car all the time (kase daw mas may pera na kami ngayon to maintain it, and we live only once so why not live in luxury yada yada) I still say NO - most of our week is spent within makati anyway - madaling maglakad, madaling mag commute.
If you really can't get rid of the private car (di naman maiiwasan yun), you can still contribute by bundling errands in one travel, carpooling, avoiding use if the destination is walkable, promoting a no-car day in the family, etc.
4. Stop justifying, just do it. Even if it feels like you're the only one doing it. I know (and I felt this too before) that there's no point in doing something when others are not cooperating. For example, I segregate trash in our condo, but when it's collected (may collector kami, instead of garbage chutes kasi), I notice that the collector just stashes everything in one huge bin. Then I have no idea what happens to all of them. At work, our company doesn't segregate too, all [wet] brewed ground coffee, styro packs, plastic cups, tissues and EVERYTHING are thrown in one bin in our pantry. Which, I know, is really really sad and frustrating. But for me, something has to start somewhere even if it's a small change. It's like "Di magkakaron ng isang milyon kung walang piso" diba? Voice out, and if they don't listen at least you can tell yourself that you do your part as a good citizen. And At least every time you do it, there is a chance that you can be a model for someone else. And if no one followed at all, at least you will die saying you've actually done something for the next generation.
Just wanna share: I was deeply struck by the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". For some, this video is yet another interesting documentary film. It talks about about global warming - what causes it, and what we can do about it. It lays the stats - ice situation, temperature, death tolls, sea levels THEN AND NOW. For me it should serve as a wake up call. (Sayang Al Gore, di ako kano - kase kung oo, binoto na kita!)
At the last part, a beautiful song was played, entitled I NEED TO WAKE UP:
Melissa Ethridge - I need to wake up by Jo_Bidjoba
It was played along with some notes:
- go to www.climatecrisis.netTo be honest, I am saddened by FB posts saying "guys, let's pray for the rain to stop" or "let's pray for the victims and help them" Because I know, after we pray and recover, what's next? PEOPLE WILL STILL GO BACK TO THEIR OLD WAYS. Yes, it's right that we pray for these things BUT let's remember that we also need to pray for our change.
- you can reduce your carbon emissions...
- In fact, you can even reduce your carbon emissions to zero.
- Buy energy efficient appliances & light bulbs.
- Change your thermostat (and use clock thermostats) to reduce energy for heating & cooling.
- Weatherize your house, increase insulation, get an energy audit.
- Recycle.
- If you can, buy a hybrid car.
- When you can, walk or ride a bicycle.
- Where you can, use light rail & mass transit.
- Tell your parents not to ruin the world that you will live in.
- If you are a parent, join with your children to save the world they will live in.
- Switch to renewable sources of energy.
- Call your power company to see if they offer green energy....
- If they don't, ask them why not.
- Vote for leaders who pledge to solve this crisis.
- Write to congress. if they don't listen, run for congress.
- Plant trees, lots of trees.
- Speak up in your community.
- Call radio shows and write newspapers.
- Insist that America freeze CO2 emissions
- join international efforts to stop global warming.
- Reduce our dependence on foreign oil; help farmers grow alcohol fuels.
- Raise fuel economy standards; require lower emissions from automobiles.
- If you believe in prayer, pray that people will find the strength to change.
- In the words of the old African proverb, when you pray, move your feet.
- Encourage everyone you know to see this movie.
- Learn as much as you can about the climate crisis.
- Then put your knowledge into action.
I don't mean to be preachy, I am not a perfect person, I too fail at my own rules sometimes. I just want to stress out that at least time to time we must remember that there should be a concrete action on our part (this whole post is actually a reminder for me too). And it must start within each individual -- ndi sa gobyerno. It's a cliche, but this is very VERY true: nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa. N rains and storms have passed, wala pa rin tayong ginagawa ...but to pray and to donate, right? It's good but it's NOT enough. Right now, I'd rather say - guys, Let's MOVE and CHANGE. :)
1 comment:
I agree with you on everything you posted here. The country really needs to implement a better (and efficient) waste management program: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Here in the US, we have 3 different kinds of trash bins. One for recyclable materials (paper, plastics, glass bottles, aluminum cans, etc), one for green waste (leaves, cut grass, dog's poop, anything biodegradable), and one for general waste. I'm one of those people here that collect and recycle aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles since I can make some money out of it. It's not much, but at least get to do my part in reducing waste. Also every supermarket accepts and collects used plastic bags for recycling and they also sell reusable tote bags. People can still use plastic, but a lot of people here recycle. I admit, I always forget to bring my reusable bags when I go shopping, but I always try not to have small items bagged in plastic since I carry a big purse anyway.
After Ondoy, I thought Filipinos would have learned their lesson already. It's so easy to help others during this time of need, but apparently it's harder to change old habits. *sigh* Let's not wait for the government to implement the necessary changes. Change has to start within us.
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