The Beginning of the Zero Waste Experience
by Monica Reloj

              How could we make Zero Waste possible? With all the trash that people produce, it would seem like an impossible idea right? Well, for the past four weeks, my classmates and I learned a lot about segregation, which I believe is one of the key points that could lead to zero waste.

             Zero Waste is not what most people think it is. It does not necessarily mean that we won't have any trash; it means that the trash we produce everyday will not end up as plain old waste, but as products that could be used further. So you ask, why do I believe that segregation is one of its key points? When we practice segregation, I believe that we become more aware of how we can re-use the things that we throw away. In one of the power points we had to review, I saw how items such as biodegradable waste, paper, and even food wrappers or sachets could still be used.

          In those four weeks, we learned how to reach that Zero Waste goal in San Fernando, Pampanga, where my classmates and I all lived under one roof. Of course we all had to practice proper segregation at home, which I admit, took some time to get used to. Not only did we have to practice proper segregation, but we also had to avoid using plastic as much as we could. At first, it was pretty difficult because frankly, what store didn't use plastic. But if there is a will, there is a way. Our practicum in Pampanga basically involved us helping the staff of MEF Pampanga, tita Armen, ate Jhen, ate Maie, and ate Maricon, to teach the people of San Fernando how to practice proper segregation. We would all go to different barangays or subdivisions, and inform them on how to properly segregate their trash. It would start with the IEC, or Information and Education Campaign, then the Dry-Run, wherein we would accompany a collector and go house to house, checking if the residents' trash would be properly segregated or not, then came Monitoring, where we the staff would observe a barangay (and in our case, a purok), to check if they were complying with the rules. We would also visit MRFs (Materials Recovery Facility)  of different brangays and subdivisions to see if they were complying with the correct guidelines.

              Our first time to work in the field was in Dolores, where we had to do the IEC. We went from house to house, giving out flyers that had the basic information needed to inform people on how to properly segregate their trash. There was also a list of viloations, such as burning trash (which is practiced a lot here) and its corresponding fines on the flyers. Luckily, no one really got mad or questioned us when we were giving these away, some of them even immediately agreed that they should practice what was written on the fliers.  After the IECs of the first week, my classmates and I finally got to experince the dry-run, which i was actually pretty excited to do. Most of us had our first dry-run in Northville. It was also a lot of fun when a couple of us drove the tri-bike (a bike with a huge cart in front, which was used to collect the segregated trash). A lot of the people even seemed surprised to see that we were the ones collecting their trash. Unfortunately, I observed that many of them did not practice proper segregation. 

               For the most part of these four weeks, we mostly did IECs and dry-runs. After the first week, that was when I finally got to experience meeting some stubborn people. I think that many of these people preferred to stick to their old ways because it was very convenient for them. They would keep on saying that they did not have space, or that they were so used to their practices that they would rather not change. There was even a time when one of the residents started getting into an argument with me, thankfully, one of the garbage collectors helped me out. 

                  On our third week, that's when everything we learned was put to the test; We were sent to Barangay San Pedro. When we all got to San Pedro, I was quite surprised. It was unlike any of the other barangays that we went to. There was no proper and regular collection, many of the people burned their trash, and there was garbage on the streets, in the canals, and even in the empty lots. I remember that we would just mostly do dry-runs, however, we noticed that no matter how much we went on dry-runs, nobody really seemed to follow what we would tell them. This was actually one of the first times where I saw one of my classmates try very hard to convince one of the residents, who just kept on disagreeing with what she said. 

During our work in San Pedro, a classmate and I were also asked to do an IEC in Fortuneville II Phase 5. Unlike San Pedro, which was a huge Barangay, Fortuneville was just a small subdivision. Little did I know that a week later, we would also be doing a dry-run there. The dry-run we did there was actually the best so far. Most of the people followed everything that was written on the flyers. On the same day, we went back to San Pedro to do the Monitoring. While monitoring, I observed that there were a lot of problems with how these people handled their trash. My classmate and I decided to talk to one of the residents, who said that the main problem was irregular collection. After San Pedro, we even got to experience an impromptu training in Villa Barosa II, which was a clean subdivision that was even beginning to establish its own MRF.

As we started to reach the last few days of our practicum, I started to think that I would miss the job, even though it was exhausting, mainly because of the weather. Even though the job was pretty difficult, the little experiences that we had made it even more worth while.I'd like to think that we were able to help San Fernando make their way to their Zero Waste goal. However, I do hope that San Fernando would only be the first of many cities that would make the Philippines a Zero Waste nation.