A Whole New Look Into the Garbage Crisis

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.

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