The garbage problem that has been stinking up parts of Bacolod City following the holidays has been described by the authorities as a collection issue which they hope to be addressed by the new garbage collection contractor is a classic example of the irresponsible, thoughtless, inconsiderate, and unsustainable mindset on how we deal with our trash.
We just want a garbage contractor to take our trash out of sight, out of smell, and out of mind.
For most Filipinos, our only responsibility when it comes to trash is to take it out, dump it some distance away so we neither see nor smell it when approaching our homes, and then hope and pray that the city’s garbage collector will disappear it as soon as possible.
Our idea of trash disposal is a brainless exercise where there is absolutely no segregation, sorting, composting, or recycling involved. We just bag our trash and leave it out for collection. That is why it takes a short time for lots of it to pile up when the garbage people somehow miss out on their schedule. All that unsorted trash is also the reason why our garbage dumps and sanitary landfills are filling up quicker than we can build them.
Newsflash: when we just dump our unsorted trash and hope that it magically goes away, it actually doesn’t disappear. It is just moved somewhere else where it rots, biodegrades, stinks and most probably leaches into the water table.
According to news reports, the mayor gave the new garbage contractor a week to clear the collection backlog that has piled up in various parts of the city. Those of us who have seen that trash piling up on roadsides may want to breathe a sigh of relief at the thought of that unsightly and stinky mess finally being removed, but if you come to think of it, that is just a few days’ worth of uncollected trash that is simply being moved somewhere else. We should really give the issue a little more thought because the sensory experience of being near so much piled up trash should be a call to action for us to take more action when it comes to our own personal solid waste management practices (or total lack thereof).
The problem with our trash disposal practices is that aside from having none, there are too many guidelines to remember for an average uneducated person to follow if we really want to minimize our impact when it comes to pollution and carbon footprint.
If our SWM law were to be strictly enforced, only residual waste should be sent to our garbage dumps or landfills. This means waste that cannot be composted, recycled, or reused. For that to happen, households have to properly sort and segregate their trash at the source, so the trash collectors know what they are collecting and bring the different kinds of waste to the appropriate disposal sites.
Organic and food waste should be turned into compost by the community. Recyclable waste such as plastic or paper should be separately sent to recycling centers, instead of being recovered at the dumpsite by scavengers. Those types of waste should be sorted and collected separately, and should not go to the landfill or dump because composting and recycling do not create trash but ultimately produce something that is still usable.
The residual trash is what cannot be composted, recycled, or reused. That is what should be sent to the landfills or garbage dumps, where it shouldn’t pile up, rot, stink, or leach as much as the thoroughly unsorted trash that they generate and brainlessly dump there every day.
If we only do our part properly and consistently, there wouldn’t be so much trash that would pile up, either on the street or in the dumps, and that would be a good thing for our communities and more importantly, our children’s planet’s future.
Every city needs a good trash collection contractor, but in this time and age, what we need more at this point are good citizens who know how to properly sort and segregate their trash before leaving it with the garbage men. This will be tough for Filipinos who don’t even know how to CLAYGO at fast food restaurants, but it is something we have to learn if our communities are going to be more sustainable.
There are those of us who are willing to do what it takes to reduce the actual trash we generate, but it can be daunting. After all, sorting and segregating, and following a schedule for the sorted and segregated stuff doesn’t only need effort, it also requires thinking, which is too much for a lot of us lazy and entitled Filipinos who would rather have someone clean up after us.
Maybe that is why up to now, we still depend so much on the garbage men to do what should be our job when they should be collecting only the residual trash, or what is left after we have done our part.
It’s no wonder our garbage problem cannot be solved easily.*
