by Jose Angelo Hokson
The United Nations expect that the world will have a total population of roughly around 9.6 Billion in 2050. That is 2.4 Billion more than today’s world population. That means that 2.4 Billion more people will be producing waste every day in 2015. If the way people today produce, manage, and dispose wastes continues, I doubt that the world would be a nice place to live in 2050. I want a cleaner future, an earth cleaner than what we have today. However, saying is easy; doing it is another story. But visioning the future is something positive if you have the right plan, or if you have good intentions.
Let’s talk about solid wastes, which is obviously a problem in the Philippines. There are many uncontrolled and unsanitary landfills in the country. There are few exceptions, I should mention. Landfills, as many Pilipinos see them, are point-blank disgusting. They are also seen as threat to the health of the neighboring communities and bad to a city or town’s image. But what Pilipinos does not see is that they were the one who produced these mountains of garbage. They were the cause of this filth. But then again, are they the only one to blame? Of course not, it should be a collaborative effort between the citizens and its government. The (local) government should be the main initiator of good things in a community, because they have the money and the authority.
Ordinances, or laws (national), can be passed by the government regarding better solid waste production and management. Other countries require their citizens to pay their wastes produced. And that, will not work in the Philippines. Baka saan lang mapunta yung pera. It should be mentioned that RA 9003 (and RA 6969), have many parts that are not being strictly implemented. The two laws are pretty good. If these two laws are strictly being implemented and followed, we would have a cleaner country. However, I think that banning controlled incineration will do us any good. Incineration will actually benefit us more than sanitary landfills.
I only have two suggestions for a cleaner Philippines: 1) Allow controlled incineration (that is with proper maintenance, and strict guidelines), and 2) Enforce RA 9003 (and RA 6969) strictly. But then again, saying is easy and doing it is another story.
Reference
un.org. 2013. World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050.http://www.un.org/en/development /desa/news/population/un-report-world-population-projected-to-reach-9-6-billion-by-2050.html
Let’s talk about solid wastes, which is obviously a problem in the Philippines. There are many uncontrolled and unsanitary landfills in the country. There are few exceptions, I should mention. Landfills, as many Pilipinos see them, are point-blank disgusting. They are also seen as threat to the health of the neighboring communities and bad to a city or town’s image. But what Pilipinos does not see is that they were the one who produced these mountains of garbage. They were the cause of this filth. But then again, are they the only one to blame? Of course not, it should be a collaborative effort between the citizens and its government. The (local) government should be the main initiator of good things in a community, because they have the money and the authority.
Ordinances, or laws (national), can be passed by the government regarding better solid waste production and management. Other countries require their citizens to pay their wastes produced. And that, will not work in the Philippines. Baka saan lang mapunta yung pera. It should be mentioned that RA 9003 (and RA 6969), have many parts that are not being strictly implemented. The two laws are pretty good. If these two laws are strictly being implemented and followed, we would have a cleaner country. However, I think that banning controlled incineration will do us any good. Incineration will actually benefit us more than sanitary landfills.
I only have two suggestions for a cleaner Philippines: 1) Allow controlled incineration (that is with proper maintenance, and strict guidelines), and 2) Enforce RA 9003 (and RA 6969) strictly. But then again, saying is easy and doing it is another story.
Reference
un.org. 2013. World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050.http://www.un.org/en/development /desa/news/population/un-report-world-population-projected-to-reach-9-6-billion-by-2050.html