TRASH AND HOGWASH!

SOMETHING SMELLS

By Gigi M. Campos

 

The time bomb ticks away…  in less than a month the existing  open dump site at Felisa currently being used by the city government will be full. This shocking revelation came from Councilor Greg Gasataya, Chairperson of the Bacolod City Clean and Green Coordinating Action Team during one of the meetings of the Flood Mitigation Committee.  Ten BAHA representatives  sit in this  Committee in the teams of Flood Control, Housing and Legal and Solid Waste Management.

The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, or R.A. 9003 mandates  the  closure of all open dumps by February 16, 2006.  The deadline was two (2) years ago!  Unfortunately our City government did nothing towards complying with the provisions RA 9003 since the deadline. Straight from the horse’s mouth came the excuse that like other local governments officials who have not complied, our city mayor was hoping the law would still be changed.   Last July with undue haste and under threat our city  officials hurriedly purchased seven hectares from the Lopez family also at Barangay Felisa for a sanitary landfill under questionable circumstances. Now that the purchase is a done deal, the questions remain – Was it overpriced? Were the barangay residents properly consulted? When will the new property at Felisa be ready as a landfill? In the meantime, where will the garbage be dumped since the open dumpsite is now full?

The problem is serious. It is time for everyone to make necessary though inconvenient decisions --  for this is a matter of survival.   Let’s look at the facts.  We may not realize it, but each of us throws away more than 360 kilos of trash per year.  Studies show that every year, a typical household  of five throws out 1,120  kilos of paper,  240 kilos of metal,  220 kilos of glass and 220 kilos of food scraps, not counting all plastic products. Experts estimate that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed and discarded annually worldwide—more than a million per minute. Yes, a MILLION A MINUTE!

About 80 percent of all our garbage ends up in landfills—open dumps, as they are more commonly known.  (Of the remaining 20 percent, about half is recycled and half is incinerated.)  One big problem is that we are running out of landfill space—in less than a month the existing open dumpsite in Felisa will be full.  Where will we put all our garbage when that happens?

 

But trash presents more than a space problem.  Between 5 and 15 percent of what we throw away contains hazardous substances--substances that can seep into the ground and contaminate air, water, and soil, eventually injuring people and other living things.  Batteries, plastics, inks used on packages, and disposable diapers are just some of the things we throw away that contain hazardous substances that can cause serious problems. 
 

 

One of the things we throw away most often is packaging.  Think about the products you and your family buy.  From detergent powder to shampoo sachets, from snack foods to compact discs, -- many products contain a great deal of packaging.  Some have four or five layers, including several layers of plastic, far more than may be necessary.  If your household is typical, about one-third of the packaging you buy will be thrown away immediately upon opening a package.

Excessive packaging also adds to the cost of a product, so you pay extra for products that have a lot of wrapping.  We also pay for garbage in other ways--through higher taxes needed to create new landfills, for example, and through higher medical bills and health insurance costs required to cure the illnesses caused by pollution. 
 

The real tragedy behind the mountains of trash we produce is that a lot of what we throw away can actually be reused or recycled.  Not everything is recyclable, and some materials are more easily recycled than others.  But recycling makes perfect sense in any case.  After all, why throw away what we can reuse?

Burning trash without making energy is the last thing we want to do with our trash. Burning trash at home and in open spaces harms human health and the environment and is now illegal under RA 9003. No single step can solve our waste disposal problems. Each option has side effects that must be considered when we're selecting the best solution to each solid waste problem.

      We used to think that after we discarded something into a landfill that it would eventually biodegrade--that is, it would rot and disappear completely.  But we have come to learn that this doesn't really happen.

When things are buried in a landfill, where there is little if any air or sunlight, things do not break down.  In fact, burying things in a landfill tends to preserve trash rather than dispose of it! 
 

You probably already know about the "three R’s"--reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic.  But there are three more R’s we should know to help us Green our environment. 
 

Refuse to buy things that are excessively packaged, that are made of plastics or other materials that are not fully recyclable, that are wasteful in other ways, or that you don't really need.

Reuse whatever you can.  And buy products made of or packaged in reused (recycled) material.

    Recycle as much as you can.  This allows us to get the most use of out of our precious resources.

Being involved in this advocacy has been an insightful though at times jolting learning experience for me . One revelation is how much money there is in trash, but I will tell you more about  this in the next column. For now, as residents of this city, let us be aware of the issues. And let us dismiss all these lame excuses for not implementing laws that affect our well-being and health as hogwash. It’s time for us to get involved.  More and more I have realized that if we are not part of the solution then we are part of the problem.   Whether,  as a private citizen or as someone in government, I truly believe it is never too late to make a difference.