A Whole New Look Into the Garbage Crisis
October 24, 2008 by lisa
Filed under environment
So much has been written about the city’s inability (refusal?) to deal with the garbage. To solve it we have to dig deeper into the issues. Here’s looking at ways to solve the problem with new eyes.
The Situation.
We have a garbage crisis.
It is pretty simple: Baguio is overpopulated, we are producing more trash than we can handle.
The residents of the towns of Nangalisan and Itogon have given written opposition to such moves, claiming all sorts of worries from health to environmental issues. — see Baguio Garbage Unwelcome
The leaders of Baguio have the money but have no solutions, except the spend 60 million on HAULING part of the waste to Tarlac (July to December costs only. Hmmm, something smells here (pun intended).
You may want to read this archived news item that tell us how Mayor Bautista entered into an onerous contract, unilaterally, without undergoing the bidding process) — Councilor Wants No Payment for Metro Waste Service
Reports have it that those folks with waste management solutions have approached the barangays directly because their proposals have been rejected by city hall. City hall in turn warns the residents against these offers but, at the same time, fails to identify and educate the residents on what is acceptable and environmentally sound. see Baguio Execs Worried About Garbage
Acting Mayor Danny Farinas (um, the mayor is on another out-of-town trip YET AGAIN?! Maybe he should take a salary cut already for all the traveling he does) who is quoted as saying: “We decided to meet every Monday to thresh out issues, so when the city council meets in the afternoon, we can start the legislative process to solve the crisis,” he said.
(LISA: Um, the crisis is to be solved via LEGISLATION? What the — ?!)
“I have seen it for myself. There are [communities] that have started using technologies that we did not approve. It did not reach us [in the city council] at all.”
(LISA: Um, exactly what technologies did you APPROVE? Or are you just pissed that the barangays showed some initiative and did not feel the need for you PERMISSION?)
While lauding the communities’ initiatives, he said the city government wants to ensure that the independent responses to the crisis “do no destroy our planet because of our ignorance.”
(LISA: Um, who is keeping the barangays ignorant? Isn’t it the duty of city hall to release some directives telling the barangays and residents which ones are not going to destroy the planet?)
(LISA AGAIN: I kinda love it when Peter Rey Bautista and Danny Farinas open their mouths. They manage to give me something to write about. Hahaha)
The Suggestions.
In my own household and business, we have always practiced segregation. Recycling must have been a Filipino invention because since I became conscious human (is there a translation for “nagkamalay tao?”), I already heard “dyario-bote” (newspapers-bottles) and saw the caretons being pushed around the streets. All metal junk is disposed of “por kilo” (by the kilo), while plastic containers are either re-used or sold.
And I have found that the best problem solving technique is to use common sense. Find the root of the problem, figure out the most logical solution, then be creative and think of other solutions, especially if the ones you tried out first did not work, and always keep in mind that the best solutions are usually the simplest ones.
I find that its a “SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY” scenario as far as this issue is concerned, and no matter what they do, our leaders are unable to come up with solutions. So we have to help these people by putting in our two cents’ worth.
1. REDUCE WASTE.
A huge part of waste management is waste reduction, an area that no one seems to be looking at. For example, if city hall can legislate an ordinance meddling into the way Mercury Drug and other drug stores attend to their clients by requiring a number system, it can also tell stores like Jollibee and McDonalds to stop using 6 small plastic bags when just one big one will suffice.
One recent purchase was for two (2) burger meals, one (1) chicken meal, 1 dessert pie, one chilidog. This meant that 2 small fries and 2 small drinks were included. Would you believe that Jollibee gave me 1 plastic bag for the burgers, 1 for the chicken, 1 for the pie, 1 for the hotdog, 1 for the fries and 1 for the drinks?
Because I did not want to carry all those packages, I was able to consolidate everything into the 1 bag for the chicken and 1 bag for the drinks!
IF YOU WANT TO HELP BAGUIO: Do not eat in fast food joints because they use disposable styrofoam plates, boxes and plastic forks. Normal restaurants wash their plates and glasses instead and do not contribute to the city’s garbage problems as much as the fast food places do. Or better yet, save your self some money and cook your own food.
Now those argumentative people will say, but dishwashing will use up our water supply! To this I say, we do not have a water shortage, just an inefficient distribution system. But we do have a garbage crisis right now and you can help.
another masterpiece lisa. those folks up in city hall should be reading your blog. but then again, they won’t have any of it because they didn’t think of it in the first place. ayaw nila ma-credit ng ibang tao even if it is for the common good. they’re too arrogant to accept their limitations. they think they are the only ones who know the answers. kuno.
that numbering system in the drugstores is not even being followed. likewise with that smoke-belching ordinance. always encounter smoke-belchers when i go out.
yes, it seems the mayor is always out. something must be wrong here. makes me think if he is undergoing treatment or something else. whatever, i wish him well.
Oh Resty,
They are reading my blog. I know that for sure.
And they are free to debate the issues, or copy the suggestions here and take all the credit (like the curfew ordinance). I don’t mind at all!
And why am I blogging? Just so the city can be clean, safe, pretty and prosperous. It does not matter who takes the credit. I write hoping for positive results so I can enjoy my life, not sidestep the trash on the streets.
Hi Lisa,
I like the new new look of your webpage than the previous one…
I used to walk barefoot in front of the Kisad Hotel (formerly Kisad Pension House) and at the Burnham Park when I was a kid. Mom used to tell me, “Magtsinelas ka nga! Baka malamigan ka!” I don’t mind really….to me it is the true essence of Baguio…a cool, clean city to live in…and oh, i just love the pine scent.
Keep on blogging. .sure they are considering your ideas…but as you said, in acknowledging, there is a problem.
Hi Lalaine,
Those who adopt any ideas or suggestions from here do not need to acknowledge the source. Ideas are free, knowledge must be shared, and once published, one can call them “open source.” If you look at my old posts, one of them was so specific, included financial projections pa, that Chi of the Cool Clouds called it “spoon feeding.”
To me, all that mattered was that the previous one was implemented, almost feature for feature. That’s how I know they visit this site.
ps. Thanks, I like this one better, too, although the featured content gallery makes it load a little too slowly.
I was born,raised,grew and educated in Baguio. We lived
in Hillside near Camp John Hay. I remembered when I was young, there is an Incinerator Building of Camp John Hay AFB just as you exit the 3rd gate towards Scout Barrio.
With all the millions spent for hauling, why can’t Baguio build its own incinerator, where they can burn all those
garbage, set up a recycling infront of it where plastics
bottles ,glass containers and newspapers in different
bins as residents bring their garbage in. The city can
charge each homeowner a set fee for this convenience
and the recyclables can be processed accordingly.
Hiya Remy, and thanks for the information. I don’t think Camp John Hay does any incineration anymore. When we were running Halfway House after the US left, garbage collection went the Filipino way.
The mayor preferred to award Metro Waste 60M for hauling instead of providing a long-term solution to the problem, you see. Then the city’s ONLY solution is to negotiate for a site as landfill — that’s what the extra 30M is for. Then there’s 12M for more dump trucks.
And th-th-that’s all folks! There goes the 103 MILLION BUDGET!
Which is why the residents and ex-residents must step up and help the leaders, who seem paralyzed.
Hi Lisa,
Love the new look!
It will help alot when people segregate the bio and non-biodegradable stuff. It just takes a little bit of effort but it cuts down the amount of trash we generate.
As for the fast food, they can use recycled paper products and not have to use styro.
BYOB- Bring Your Own Bayong. This is to cut down the use of plastic bags. Buy a really cute big canvas bag/s which you can bring everywhere.
Take care,
tina
Hi Tina,
We were just talking about the BYOB. In the 90s I used to go to the Baguio Market with a bayong in each hand, and a salakot on my head (because I had no more hands to hold an umbrella) and my mom thought I looked funny. But that is the way to go!
i was soooo disappointed when we visited Baguio last Dec 2006, konti na lang ang mga puno, ang kalsada bako-bako, at ang basura nagkalat. you might want to check out the recycling program that San Francisco, Ca has implemented, we all bring our own re-usable bags, kaya ang uniform namin dito ngayon ay Trader Joe’s grocery bags, even men carry gorcery Tote bags. no more styrofoams, all restaurants must use containers made from natural sources, so its better to finish your food in the restaurant rather than bring it home kasi, nag sa soggy yong container kung hindi plastic, so i bring my own plastic container if i want to buy soup para siguradong, it will reach home. We ahve just recently implemented the law that drug stors like Walgreen and Riteaid can not sell cigarrettes, my life will really be complete if they pass the law banning people from smoking in public places
Welcome Lorena!
And thanks for those tips.
I am aghast at how so many residents just do not care about the city. Gone are so many folks who maintain beautiful houses and gardens. The Philippines, and especially the people currently iving in Baguio are simply too in love with cement!
Sometimes, I think that when the people who had houses in Baguio were mostly from Manila, the place was much better looking…
And this paradigm shift of the mayor away from tourism simply isn’t working for the environment. His family has a huge money-maker in terms of University of Baguio you see, and, judging from the way their school grounds look, they simply do not care for the city that has given them so much.
This, and the attitudes of most of the residents, is doing so much damage to the environment. It is an urgent matter that the whole country must get involved in because it seems that the city will fail in the long term if the downslide continues.
Lisa, those whose houses were constructed in the ’40’s and ’50’s and are well-maintained should be given a reward.
salamat, gusto ko ulit bumalik sa Baguio, when I was in my 20’s , we always visit the Crying Heart of Mary Chapel. I was lucky enough that my friends from Manulife held their annual meeting there and they invited me, we had a great time, we had a girls night out in one of the clubs, visited Mines view, bought a lot of native items and silver.
It takes leadership and Commitment to maintain cleanliness, dito sa SF, bawal ang manigarilyo sa loob ng bar and sinusunod naman ito ng mga club patrons
With all the problems Baguio is facing right now, maybe it will take a long time for the city to recover. Pero para po sa akin, maganda pa rin ang Baguio at mahal ko ito.
What saddens me is that i don’t live in the city and i cannot do anything to contribute even a little for its improvement.
Yes, like what you’ve told me in my previous comment, it was the same love like yours that inspires me to visit your blog and read your articles everyday.
I do agree with your conclusion that garbage is not the problem. The garbage crisis the city is experiencing may only be a symptom of a bigger condition dictated and aggravated upon by ineptitude, ignorance, lethargy and apathy which seem to have accumulated and multiplied at an exponential rate.
However, as you have said in order for us to keep away from a predictable cataclysmic scenario the main problem of overpopulation, too much politicking and incompetent leadership should ideally be addressed first rather than looking at the symptom and treating such independently. Well, reasonably it may take a while before such therapy would be induced but surely if change cannot be initiated everything has an end.
Nonetheless, as in the case at point, suggestions have well been said as to how the problem on garbage should be approached from education to reduction which is basic and is sheer common sense. However, some inimically insensitive and contumacious people rather decided to go into a spending spree of taxpayer’s money which is even ethically and morally wrong.
The last time I checked City Officials promised that even though our city’s savings is at risk of being depleted – because of stupidity and lack of common sense. Our beloved politicians won’t be passing the burden of additional taxes and fees unto us. Yeah right! It seems that some opportunistic and sadistic people do love to take advantage of others lack of concern and interest. What a pity.
Anyway, I still believe that doing our individual share and at the same time enthusiastically encouraging others to do the same would gradually set a tone for others to follow. Everything has been said on how to resolve such crisis. We just have to do our share. God bless.
Michael Karl C. Flores