Garbage are everywhere disease might be here

By Theresa Figura Bongon

One of the primary concerns in our local community is the pollution that started in every single trash found in our community where we belong. Even there are ordinances passed in our locality, we can still seeing them floating in our rivers, on our farm, and everywhere. As a concerned citizens, we need to segregate trash properly and the barangay council should strictly implement and instruct procedures for garbage disposal. Having all types of garbage decomposing together causes too much methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If we do not segregate waste and incorporate ways to recycle, we are not only ruining the environment but harming our immune systems which we need healthy to prevent and recover from infectious diseases. Let us remember that we have to control global warming by 2030 as the world vision. We need to follow proper waste management such as: reducing the amount of waste we create; reusing items more than once; recycling used products to serve a different purpose; and rethink how to use the products in a long-lasting way. Let us take responsibility for not only ourselves but the community to segregate garbage, which will provide a clean and healthy environment for a brighter future.

But did you know that in some countries such as Japan, the startup recycle polyethylene terephthalate way back in the early millennium? Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin bottle fibers can be used to produce clothes, boots, and bags. Interestingly, the bottles that we used to drink water and soft drinks can be transformed into elegant clothing. How about here in our locality? Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), the one that overcrowds our rivers can be used to produce clothing also like our piña fibers. In some parts of the Philippines, water hyacinth can be dried and process as charcoal. This means that innovation happens everywhere. There are several ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink to save our environment and to teach our students how to be creative in recycling things not just throwing them in our trash bins that ended up in our local sanitary landfills. All we have to do is to benchmark from other localities to learn from them and make our research to make an effective solution on waste disposal. As a teacher major Biological Sciences, I believe that I have to encourage my future students to apply the 4R’s because we have to embrace it, to tackle this inside the school, at home, and everywhere. For my future students, before you throw your garbage, just think first, how can you apply the 4R. Perhaps you are the next genius who can transform garbage into a beautiful and useful creation that makes our locality proud.

(Reference:https://ensia.com/features/methane-landfills/) (solarschools.net)