Rethinking garbage together

To cure any illness or pain, the cause has to be traced, right? To solve a problem, its definition and roots have to be understood, right?

Let’s consider our garbage problem together. Do you think there is a garbage problem? What is it?

The garbage problem commonly means that there is increasing amount of garbage generated daily needing regular and effective collection, proper disposal and management.

Let us all trace the root of this garbage problem. Let us clarify and understand the source of the voluminous garbage.

Who is responsible for generating, creating different types of and so much garbage? Ascertaining and recognizing where garbage begins and why it escalates into a public problem can be a good start to, hopefully, finding the appropriate solution to the garbage problem plaguing communities, cities, and countries.

Where does garbage begin? Where does the garbage in disposal bins, in the streets, in the rivers come from?

From people, from us all, from you and me, right? Individuals and households produce garbage as well as people in factories, businesses, and industries.

Garbage starts from the hands of persons, from your hands and mine. If only waste is properly managed on this individual level, on our own level, at this first stage, then waste remains a personal issue, a personal responsibility, and task that, ideally, should be so easy to manage.

If all of us take care and manage waste from our tiny hands with our own tiny hands, then garbage will not and should not grow to be a huge, costly, problematic public issue and responsibility of others!

Waste segregation, reduction, and proper disposal should be our own personal responsibility and task. With limited or zero waste generated, there will be no need for public garbage collection and disposal, right?

Biodegradable waste can be composted. Paper and other waste can be recycled or reused. Plastic should be avoided, with production of polluting materials and products regulated or banned.  Existing public information about how to segregate, how to responsibly manage waste can be repeated again and again so all, even children, can learn the lessons by heart, and practice, even perfect waste management at home, in schools, in public places, everywhere!

Once the practice is perfected and effective in households, then communities, observe the subsequent, significant decrease in the volume of disposed and collected garbage especially in the streets or other public areas. In turn, there will be less public costs wasted on garbage, more land areas released for productive and housing purposes, better health and safer, cleaner, more beautiful environment for all!   Imagine if everyone manages his/her own waste, then garbage is no longer the problem of hired collectors, businesses, and the local government units. The huge budget allotted for extravagant and spoiled garbage can be used instead to reward individuals, households, communities, offices, businesses and industries that practice effective waste management!

Imagine if the present millions of pesos spent for garbage can be saved instead, aside from other welfare and health benefits, more hungry can be fed, more sent to school, more provided with land and housing, more unemployed with jobs.

My waste, my responsibility. Can we commit to this?

My call, my choice either to personally manage waste and allow better health for people and the environment or to throw garbage and live amidst poverty, filth, stench, and ugliness.

If we all effectively manage our waste, we can bid goodbye to unhealthy, expensive garbage, smoky mountains, dumpsites and landfills and say hello to our responsible selves, with others, on a beautiful, healthy, productive earth.