I remember when I was a kid I was scared of the garbage truck in our village. It was vile, putrid, and you could smell it from far away. I pitied the garbage collectors for having such an awful job. .
Now, after many years, I dont fear the garbage collectors anymore in fact I commend them for having the job of collecting the garbage door-to-door every single day. Someone's got to do it right? .
But after reading the article I began to have a larger perspective on the garbage problem that we are facing. I was horrified at the fact that Chairman Abalos was threatening garbage collectors with fines and jail terms if they collect unsegregated garbage. Even a child would know that a lot of families and businesses dont separate their garbage! And of course the garbage collectors would dump the garbage anywhere. Sometimes I really wonder about this country.
But aside from that I have to admit that the suggestions made by the author to curb the garbage problem are good and plausible: to have a nationwide advertising campaign on recycling and separating trash and maybe giving them financial incentives by the government for doing so. Let's face it most Filipinos respond to rewards than fines and imprisonment threats.
The other solution made by the author seems better; to have the MMDA collect recyclable materials and compost for the Urban farmers and pay the households and businesses for these things. The families and businessmen will be motivated to segregate because they will be paid for their efforts! .
I think that's one of the roots of the garbage problem; the Filipinos are uneducated about where the garbage goes and how recycling invariably helps to lessen the piling up of trash and just by telling your neighbor or friend how to recycle and separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials will help a lot.
So what can we do now? (I just love to ask that question) Well the first thing would be to be more aware of our surroundings.