Converting trash to cash

Do you throw your garbage anywhere without thinking about its effects on your surroundings? Here in the Philippines, you’ll find garbage everywhere there are people, it’s really pathetic. One missionary describes our country in his book as one where garbage blows. Whereas other countries take pride in their rivers, we use them to throw our wastes in. An architect mentioned to me that if we only used our rivers as frontage to our homes instead of our backyards, we would see the need to make them beautiful.

There is also this notion that as long as your home is clean, it doesn’t matter where you throw your garbage, even if it ends up in the house of your next-door neighbor. And as soon as you put a sign that says, "Bawal Magtapon Ng Basura," soon you will find it with a mountain full of it. Some of us laugh at or ignore the sight of it. But there are those of us who have the heart to push for change.

Every day in Metro Manila alone, 6,000 tons of garbage are being dumped in different places. Seventy percent of it comes from our homes. Almost half of it comes from our kitchen wastes. So segregation should start at the source – the kitchen. Because waste segregation has been passed as a law, we cannot apply our old dumping methods any longer. Change will surely not take place overnight but with the right motives, people can make it happen.

In the year 1999, Brgy. Holy Spirit with a household count of 15,000 residents started to segregate their wastes. The community made it a priority with the help of Barangay Tanods who helped insure compliance. They even bought their own dumptruck and they didn’t only apply a system for collecting recyclable and organic wastes, they also put up their own redemption center so that they could directly buy whatever recyclable wastes they collected.

Cynthia Moss of Phil-Am Homes, started to practice segregation in her home and then presented the idea to her fellow villagers. According to her, consistency (not the ningas kugon attitude) is needed for a successful implementation of the program. Homeowners line up in their clubhouse every morning to deposit their organic wastes that they put in their composter. For Moss, it’s not the machine that’s important, but the change in attitude.

The Alexandra Condominium’s lack of space didn’t prevent them from pushing for segregation. Their organic wastes are collected in pots. It’s actually a bonus for those who like gardening because whatever you bury doesn’t emit a foul odor – it fertilizes the soil and best of all, you cut down greatly on your garbage.

I had the privilege of having tasted the fruits of East Fairview Homes’ segregation project. When I visited their site ( where they plant vegetables and use compost soil), they gave me vegetables like sitaw, talong, kangkong and alugbati. When the homeowners come with their recyclables, instead of cash, they are given vegetables as payment. No wonder the association, headed by Jarius Bondoc, decided on using their idle land for a redemption center and garden instead of building a clubhouse. Not only does it benefit our society, it gives income to their association.

Blue Ridge has even put up an ecology garden. They train people on waste segregation and provide information to make it happen. Once, I called them and they gave me a list of junkshops who buy the recyclable wastes. They even gave me a module of the course they conduct and proper information needed for waste segregation.

So, with all that in mind, you’re probably wondering how it starts.

Here are the materials you will need to start your segregation:

In the kitchen:

1. Colander with a dish underneath ( placed under the kitchen sink) – all peelings from fruits and excess vegetables including leftover food must be placed there and the juice allowed to be drained. Every once in a while, the dish where the juices of the elements have been collected must be thrown (in the sink or on plants) because that is where the foul smell comes from.

2. A rinsing bin with water and soap should be nearby to rinse opened cans, plastic bottles and bags etc. so that when you classify the recyclable wastes, they’ve already been washed and rinsed and will not attract insects (especially flies) while you wait for the eco aide to come by and purchase your recyclable wastes.

Outside your home:

1. Pots or an empty lot for compost pit. You empty your colander here where you have collected your organic wastes. Ideally, underneath, you have garden soil and an equal amount of organic waste; then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Happy Soil ( which may be purchased at Phil-Am Clubhouse) for quicker composting, then garden soil. Continue till the pot or lot gets filled then move to the next pot or lot. After several weeks, the soil will turn to compost fertilizers which you can sell for P5 per kilo or use in your garden. You may even want to have a vegetable garden if your lot is big enough and surely, your vegetables will grow fat and big.

2. Two bins which you must label as recyclable ( cans, plastic bottles, containers, paper, broken glass, aluminum foil etc), non-recyclable (those that are given to the garbage truck – disposable sanitary napkins and diapers, tetra packs, batteries), pathogenic wastes (those that are harmful to our health or poisonous) and toxic wastes. By the way, if you find a redemption center near you, they buy those empty soda cans for 50 centavos per piece as long as they are not crushed or broken. Good deal, eh?

Chances are if you do it right, you’ll only end up filling up one plastic bag of wastes as opposed to one whole big trash bag a week. If you get your association active, you can save much with the garbage truck services and earn from your wastes as well. There are more than 1,700 junk shops in the whole Metro Manila. They will come to you to buy your recyclable trash.

There are countless treasures lying in our trash. Money is a great deal but more than that, we serve our country well and provide good examples to our children. We also save them from the harmful effects of getting their food contaminated with the presence of flies (because you eliminate them if you segregate), and make their future brighter.

So, do it now and believe me, many blessings will flow.

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Would love to hear from you, e-mail me at: bizwrks@attglobal.net. Some numbers to remember: Phil-Am Clubhouse for the Happy Soil: 928-4098;920-61-16; Metro Manila Linis Ganda (for junkshops listing): 410-03-83/ 727-1219.