MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda encouraged Filipino Catholics who will observe the Holy Week to affirm their role as stewards of God’s creation through environment-friendly practices, such as proper solid waste management.
Legarda said that undertaking environment-friendly activities is a way to carbon fast and reconcile with the environment, which has been greatly abused and exploited.
“We are the stewards of God’s creation and as such, we are tasked to protect, not harm, our environment. We should adopt an environment-friendly lifestyle and learn to carbon fast starting this Holy Week. My appeal to carbon fast goes not only to Catholics, but to everyone regardless of faith. A simple way to start is by practicing ecological solid waste management, beginning with segregation at source,” she said.
Legarda, who is the principal sponsor and author of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law, shared how segregation at source can be done.
Every household should have one trash can for biodegradable and food waste; one trash can for recyclables or residual waste; and another for special or hazardous waste, busted lamps, radio and cellphone batteries. For paper that can be recycled, these can be placed flat in a box or in a paper bag.
When going to market or the grocery, bring containers to avoid using plastic bags. Reusable containers can be used in purchasing fish, meat and other poultry products; while bayong and reusable cloth bags can be used for dry items.
“To our local leaders from the provincial, city and municipal levels down to the barangay, greater action is expected as they are tasked to implement the law. It is the barangay that must collect all segregated waste, which should go to the barangay Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for proper waste management,” Legarda explained.
Biodegradable waste goes to composting, animal feeds or biogas; while recyclables go to the junk shops. Only residual waste should be collected by the city or municipal truck.
Meanwhile, special or hazardous waste will go to the city/municipal MRF for proper treatment or disposal in coordination with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
“Ecological solid waste management may seem difficult at first especially since many are not yet used to it, but let us take it as a simple sacrifice that would make our surroundings cleaner, safer and healthier. It should be easy if we all strive to make it work and if we care enough for our environment, for our children, and for all of God’s creation,” Legarda concluded.
