The Skypers-Natividad L.De Leon ES

15/08/2022

Parents Orientation for the upcoming opening of classes for S.Y 2022-2023

15/07/2022

Natividad L.De Leon ES staff would like to thank the Division Inventory Monitoring Team with Mam Mary Grace Rodriguez Cawigan , Mam Yholz Em, Sir Marty Ryzen Gomez Roman, Sir Rosyl Tengco and Mam Mehelle☺️🧑‍🏫

01/06/2022

School ELLN Validation headed by the DepEd Regional Supervisors Mam Marieann Ligsay and Mam Rose Ibarra together with our EPS in Filipino Mam Rowena Tiamzon .The Natividad L. De Leon E/S would like to convey our gratitude for the technical assistance given to Kinder and Grades 1- 3 teachers.

09/11/2021

2021 National Reading Month Celebration and Virtual Kick Off Ceremony...

01/10/2021

Happy World Teachers Day to All🧑‍🏫❤️

01/10/2021

Natividad L.De Leon E/S BRIGADA PAGBASA WEBINAR LAUNCH September 28,2021

06/09/2021

Salute to all dedicated TEACHERS🧑‍🏫

19/07/2021

Happy 47th Nutrition Month! 🥳🥳🥳
Mga kanutrisyon, sa sama-samang pagtutulungan, kaya nating wakasan ang lahat ng uri ng malnutrisyon. Ating tutukan ang nutrisyon at kalusugan sa First 1000 days ng buhay!

12/07/2021

You're invited on our 2021 Completion Rites,
July 16,2021 at 9:00 A.M for Grade Six and 10:30 A.M for Kindergarten via FB live streaming...

25/06/2021

The Natividad L.De Leon ES Satff joined the Deped 123rd Founding Anniversary Celebration 2021

10/06/2021

SBM Evaluation And Monitoring of Natividad L. De Leon E/S with the hardworking effort of the teaching force and Head Teacher sir Oliver I. Yumul Ph.D.
To our hardworking PSDS Dr.Lutgarda M. Vitug ,ED.D,Thank you for the technical assistance,we learned a lot from you🧑‍🏫

06/05/2021

SBM MENTORING OF OUR HUMBLE AND HARDWORKING DISTRICT PSDS DR. LUTGARDA M. VITUG WITH OUR FORMER HEAD TEACHER SIR OLIVER I. YUMUL TOGETHER WITH OUR SBM LEADERS.

08/04/2021

Kalawakan: The Unexplored Universe of Nature and its People
by Rinzen Gonzales

Flocks of tourists hail from different parts of the archipelago just to see the natural beauty of Barangay Kalawakan. But for Tessie Evangelista, the lush emerald forests surrounding the community named after the universe were once devoid of color.
Gray ash and soot littered the land and air when Evangelista was growing up. The residents used to cut and burn trees for charcoal just to make a living. This memory hides amongst the towering trees of Kalawakan today.
Barangay Kalawakan is located in the Municipality of Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT), Bulacan Province’s last frontier that comprises about a third of the province’s land area. The town is no stranger to charcoal making.
Back then, the 93,000 hectares of land was underdeveloped with little to no infrastructure and highways leading to adjacent towns which pushed the locals into an industry that kills trees for profit.
"Talagang sobrang hirap na," Tessie said. "'Pag nag-uling ka, pahid-pahiran ka talaga pero liit. Halos ang mga bata nga hindi na maibili ng kasuotan.” (It was difficult to make ends meet. Even if you make charcoal, we still make less. We could not even buy clothes for the children.)
To carry out their livelihood, families who made charcoal for a living need certification from the Department of Environment of Natural Resources (DENR)or they can harvest trees from their own lands.
However, this was still not enough for them to make ends meet.
Reviving Nature
The municipal government of DRT has taken initiatives to turn the town inhabited by 20,000 people into a paradise in the mountains. Under the current administration, tourism in the province boomed with travelers from the neighboring towns and provinces frequently visiting its wonders.
Barangay Kalawakan sits right in the center of these natural wonders.
Sites like the Talumpari Falls, Camalig Cave, Tila Pilon and Balistada Hills, and Mt. Pinagbanderahan, are spots often explored by tourists.
Eric Hernandez, a barangay kagawad (barangay councilor), said the opening of many tourism destinations gave the residents a new source of income by becoming tour guides.Hernandez said that the tour guides earn at an average of ₱500 in one tour.
Evangelista shares "kaya po kung mag-asawa kayo, ₱1,000 po agad ang kita. Bakit pa po kayo mag-uuling." She describes how being a tour guide pays better wages than that of charcoal production. (…if you are spouses working together, you could instantly earn ₱1,000. Why should we even make charcoal?)
Since tourism boomed in their barangay, families are able to afford to send their children to school without worrying about the finances education brings, she added.
Financial security even amidst the pandemic is not a burden for the residents, especially the tour guides, for tourists flock the barangay nonstop while observing mandatory health guidelines and regulations. Children whose parents are working in the tourism industry can still work and are provided with basic necessities.
Indeed, tourism saved the people of Kalawakan. But with the increasing popularity among vacationers, the community needs a tighter grip on their environmental security.
Looming threats in the paradise
Pollution has always been a problem and tour guides are responsible for picking up after the rule-breakers.
"Napakarami po naming mga tourist spots ngayon. Iba-iba po ang mga ugali ng turista at ang iba po ay mga pasaway," said Hernandez. (There are a lot of tourists nowaday. Each of them have different tendencies, and some of them are obstinate.)
The community takes waste management seriously and littering poses serious threats in the environment, he said.
However, garbage is not the only problem in DRT. Just recently, five suspected illegal loggers were arrested in a joint operation by the local police, DENR Community Environment and Natural Resources Office-Baliwag and NPC-Awat in the neighboring barangay of Camachin.
Furthermore, climate change is a looming problem that can potentially impact the community. That is why they have taken steps to ensure the biodiversity is well taken care of.
In collaboration with the municipal government, scholarship beneficiaries of the "Iskolar ng Bayan Program" are required to plant 10 native trees as part of their project to conserve the environment. Tour guides are also planning to plant one tree every journey through the hills to mitigate deforestation in the 33,000-hectare forest reserves.
"Sinasabi rin po namin sa mga kabarangay namin na ganito ang gawin upang hindi maubos ang mga puno natin," said Evangelista. (The community members are made aware and are involved in these efforts to prevent deforestation.)
The leaders in Kalawakan know that their secluded town behind the virgin slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range is doing better than before. With limited resources and manpower, their community transitioned into a tourism destination for travelers--a universe where locals are battling the challenges of sustainable tourism while mitigating the immediate effects of climate change.
With the facelift of her hometown, Evangelista is one of the only people who witnessed how an almost barren land transformed into a sanctuary.
As tourists head to the groves of Kalawakan, maybe you will meet people like Tessie who knows the secrets of an unexplored universe hidden behind the emerald mountains and the rich history of its people.*

This article was written and prepared by Rinzen Gonzales (Student-Journalist) and Allan Jason Sarmiento (School Paper Adviser) from,San Miguel National High School Division of Bulacan as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.
Word Count: 858

Photo credit: https://transitpinas.com/13-falls-drt/

AYEJ is a youth-led environmental media hub providing you the stories that matter, prioritizing environmental education, and training earth warriors of the next generation.

08/04/2021

How a calamity-prone barangay in Cabanatuan managed to combat Climate Change
by Klyde Charles Lee P. Painor | Cabanatuan City

Rows of colorful flowers made from recycled plastic bottles would greet Azaleah Pascual every time she walked around her home barangay in Cabanatuan City. There was not a piece of trash or plastic straw in sight.
However, taking a leisurely stroll around Barangay Pagas was quite different today compared to seven years ago.
“Dati, hindi naman masyadong napapansin yung Pagas. Ngayon, nakakatuwa na nag-improve na, maraming nangyari, marami na ring achievements. Nakatutuwa lang na maraming natulungan,” Azaleah, a young resident, said regarding the drastic changes that occurred through the time that passed. (Barangay Pagas was seldom noticed before. Today, it’s elating that a lot has changed and improved on top of achievements. It brings joy to know that many benefited from them.)
After traversing through the busy and tricycle-congested streets of Cabanatuan, one would reach the city’s green lung and pride in disaster preparedness: a low-lying barangay directly facing the Pampanga river, equipped to face the atrocities climate change is posing--Barangay Pagas, Azaleah’s home.
Reinventing Solid Waste Management
Barangay chairman Christopher Lee recalled that they faced a number of obstacles in laying out their vision of an eco-friendly barangay back in 2013. The prominent problem they encountered, he shared, was that the people were uninformed about proper waste management and existing ordinances.
“Napakarami nating batas, napakarami nating ordinansa pero sa totoo lang ay kulang ng implementation,” the barangay captain said, highlighting that Republic Act 9003 or Ecological Solid Waste Management Act still lacks implementation almost two decades after it was signed as a law. (We have many laws and ordinances, but, honestly, the enforcement is lacking.)
Fueled by their motivation to protect their environment, Lee, together with the local government unit (LGU) of Pagas crafted a plan to implement solid waste management properly. They started with educating their constituents about solid waste management and taught them ways of segregating garbage.
The administration also established five (5) Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) which are used by its four (4) puroks which receive, separate, and prepare recyclable materials in preparation for its shipment to recyclers.
Just recently, the barangay launched its project “Eco-Bricks.” In this program, households were asked to fill plastic bottles with other plastics ranging from shampoo sachets and toothpaste containers as a way to minimize waste, leaving only residual waste or the solid waste materials that are neither compostable nor recyclable, to be collected by the city’s garbage collection system.
Armed with good governance and strict ordinances, Pagas LGU succeeded in its vision to strengthen the practice of waste segregation and disposal.
Last 2018, Pagas won the search for the Cleanest and Greenest LGU (Model Barangay on Ecological Solid Waste Management) in Region III by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
There is gold in rubbish
Pagas’s strategy in solid waste management does not only cleanse the barangay but also benefits its students. Many households donate their kalakal (recyclable materials) to the LGU. The local government then sells the collected recyclables and uses the proceeds to give financial assistance to the students who live in the barangay.
According to Lee, 160 students have been assisted by the program. Now that the course of education shifted due to the pandemic, he said that they are using the P180,000 proceeds of the collection last year to donate supplies needed for distance learning.
Azaleah is among the scholars of the barangay. She said the financial assistance that the Pagas local government provided greatly helped its beneficiaries as it lessens the parents’ expenditure in their children’s education.
Coping with Nature’s Wrath
Being a low-lying area in the city, barangay Pagas developed a strategic disaster response to address the overflowing Pampanga River during typhoons.
The 53-hectare community of over 3,000 locals, is complete with equipment, facilities, and proper training for the citizens of the village. “Kailangang i-train hindi lamang ang mga rescuer, kung hindi pati ang buong barangay,” Lee said as he shared their system in disaster response. (Everyone in the barangay must be trained, not only the rescuers.)
Utilizing a siren that can be heard by the whole community, the administration was able to provide its people warnings and instruction: one long blast means that there is an impending disaster, two long blasts mean that everybody should prepare to evacuate, and three long blasts mean that one should stay inside because the situation outside is too dangerous.
Because of this, Barangay Pagas reigns, for the fifth consecutive year since 2015, as the Gawad Kalasag Regional Awardee, an annual award given by the Office of Civil Defense in search of outstanding contribution in the fields of disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance. Pagas extends disaster preparedness to other communities by conducting trainings.
Lee expressed concern regarding climate change which causes stronger calamities that directly affect the country and barangay Pagas in particular, adding that it is a huge problem and the people are bound to feel extreme aftermaths if they are not going to learn to unite.
He added that the education received by the youth should include disaster preparedness training as it will serve as an eye-opener for them.
For Pagas, encouraging other communities to give more attention to the environment is the next move. Progress is always the aim of this barangay and discipline has always been the key. The barangay has come this far, and they will reach farther distance and achieve greater heights in their quest for a sustainable, prepared, and eco-friendly community.*

This article was written and prepared by Klyde Charles Painor (Student-Journalist) and Anna Kristel Cuevas (School Paper Adviser) from Honorato C. Perez, Sr. Memorial Science High School, Division of Cabanatuan City as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.
Word Count: 907

Photo credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=waste+management&tbm=isch&chips=q:waste+management,g_1:recycling:qswbFqgkXYk%3D&rlz=1C1CHBF_enPH915PH915&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjr-PfluuzvAhXiNKYKHcpZDHAQ4lYoAHoECAEQGQ&biw=1349&bih=657 =qzjnIFSkPlIn7M

AYEJ is a youth-led environmental media hub providing you the stories that matter, prioritizing environmental education, and training earth warriors of the next generation.

08/04/2021

How a married couple uses various art forms to amplify social, environmental issues
Raymart Dela Cruz

A plastic bag with tin cans, plastic materials, and fabrics, is headed to the landfill. But wait! For one couple, there is a lot more to do with these rubbish. Some of these pieces can be turned into art - a can of beer highlighted with a Santa toy, dressed like an American superhero and a Filipina saya made from recycled fabrics. What are these works telling us?

Husband and wife tandem Mideo M. Cruz and Racquel De Loyola Cruz have been exploring different kinds of arts by using excess materials to help protect the environment. The core of their masterpieces is recycling supplies that can be found readily around every corner.

Ecological views

Mideo’s awareness from different social issues motivated him to do artworks from materialism excess which he defines as the products produced in bulk, but are not totally consumed, like plastics, cans, tins, etc.

He does his artworks as self-reaction on social issues as well as on immediate environmental concerns. His art expresses how the issues are triggering him to speak and express his emotions.

“We must listen to the environment,” says Mideo. He stressed that we must do something with capitalism that has a big impact on our environmental system; illegal bombing of Lumads to build a mining industry in the mountains; the production of waste and irresponsibly profiting from natural resources. While not against mining, Mideo says he’s looking forward to how the capitalists will be responsible for their businesses.

Raquel on the other hand is more into the ‘Exploration of Fabric Sculpture’ that uses a technique of recycling fabrics into stunning pieces of art. With a lot of fabrics at home and several ukay-ukay stalls everywhere she started to make artworks that mirror cultural symbols.

“Relearn those knowledge from the past,” she mentioned. She added that the lessons and cultural beliefs of the indigenous people can be the basis of science and the modern world in conserving the planet.

She also believes that there’s nothing wrong with modernization as well as we’re in the middle of balancing the scenarios, using science and modern living but still protecting our environment.

Distinct art styles

When Mideo first attempted doing the art of recycling, he began to look over the trash in his own house - beer and soft drink cans, and unused and broken toys of his child. He figured out how he could transform these into figures that will invoke meaning.

“Walang limitasyon ang imahinasyon” is Mideo’s motto when creating his abstract painting or sculpture. He believes that the interpretation of an artwork depends upon the individual’s experiences.

One of the pieces in his exhibit is a Mickey Mouse figure as a capitalist with a gun in his hand, pointing to a skeleton. Behind him is a tree that has lost its leaves, and mountains behind the scene.

Raquel’s fabric sculpture and expressive arts performances are her way of addressing the issues on women, colonization, globalization, and commodity, during this time of uncertainties. This is clearly visible in her own interpretation of Babaylan and Mebuyan sculptures.

Perfect Tandem
The couple with their child resides in Gapan City, Mideo’s hometown. He calls his art studio there as Bangan Project Space. But aside from practicing their art, they also enjoy planting trees and ornamentals.
We may say that they are the epitome of using art to express their concern to the environment. Moreover, as part of their advocacy, along with their team, they have visited high schools to showcase their unusual and diverse art expressions, with the hope of encouraging the youth to utilize “environment-friendly” art.
This article was written and prepared by Raymart Dela Cruz (Student-Journalist) and Ma. Andrea Soliman (School Paper Adviser) from Juan R. Liwag Memorial High School, Division of Gapan City as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.
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Word Count: 597

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=Mideo+M.+Cruz+and+Racquel+De+Loyola+Cruz&rlz=1C1CHBF_enPH915PH915&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI1KOru-zvAhVkHKYKHRt0CF8Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1366&bih=657 =n2LMJ3i9zAbm_M

AYEJ is a youth-led environmental media hub providing you the stories that matter, prioritizing environmental education, and training earth warriors of the next generation.

08/04/2021

Survey: Mabalaqueño learners lack awareness on Balakat trees
By Princess Elaine Vergara, SDO Mabalacat City

“Ano pong Balakat? Ano pong itsura noon? Saan po pwedeng makita iyon?” (What Balakat? How does it look like? Where can we see them?)
These were the questions of some junior high school students in Mabalacat City, Pampanga about the city’s own official tree, and the exact same tree their hometown was named after.
A virtual survey by The Sighter, Camachiles National High School’s official publication, found that more than 60 percent of its student-respondents know little of the origins of the name of the city where they were born and grew up in.
Moreover, some 70 percent of them have not yet seen any Balakat Tree for themselves, let alone have any idea of what it looks like.
The City of Mabalacat gets its name from an old indigenous word which means “full of Balakat trees.” Bearing the scientific name Ziziphus talanai, a good number of Balakat trees can be seen around the city.
But as Mabalacat grew from a town into a city, some of the trees have been cut down to give way to road widening projects, as well as the construction of buildings and other infrastructure projects.
Engr. Anne Jerni Peña of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) said that these trees had to be trimmed down because they “obstruct” these widening and construction projects.
But as buildings and roads replaced Balakat trees, younger natives have less and less knowledge of the tree that shaped their own hometown’s heritage, as evidenced by the recent survey by The Sighter.
Saving the Balakat trees
In 2008, the local government of the then municipality of Mabalacat launched the “Balakat Greening Project,” which aimed to preserve and conserve the Balakat trees.
The project was realized through an agreement signed that year between the local government of Mabalacat, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region III (Central Luzon), and Recyclers Foundation Inc.
Peña, who was a councilor at the time the project was signed, noted that the project saw “many trees planted” around Mabalacat, even as the local government has yet to release an official updated count of the Balakat trees in the city.
“We have already planted many Balakat trees in several areas and schools. The city has its own nursery and they continue to produce Balakat seedlings as well as distributing notebooks that contain information about the tree,” he said.
In 2016, the local government also signed the Environmental Code of Mabalacat City into law, which mandates the City Agriculture Office to produce Balakat seedlings all year round, to be given to Mabalaqueños for free.
Section 13 of the said ordinance also declares the Balakat as the city’s official tree.
‘Students lack awareness’
But even with these initiatives in place, Mabalaqueño learners still lack knowledge and awareness on the presence of Balakat trees in the city.
“I think the initiatives do not reach the school level. Students lack awareness because information dissemination is not totally established,” said Trycia L. Gonzales, editor-in-chief of The Sighter.
She added that for the learners to have a more cultural understanding of the Balakat tree as a historical symbol of the city, discussions of this must be embedded in the curriculum or a school-to-school campaign that should be done by the local DENR.
“Our publication will ensure that we will promote environmental protection through our writings and words, including the preservation of Balakat so it will not be a forgotten symbol so soon,” Gonzales assured.
This article was written and prepared by Princess Elaine Vergara (Student-Journalist) and Jasper Catanduanes (School Paper Adviser) from Camachiles National Highschool, Division of Mabalacat City as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.
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Word count: 576

Photo credit: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbalacat.weebly.com%2Fhome%2Fbakit-walang-balacat-sa-mabalacat-the-forgotten-symbol&psig=AOvVaw2R9VQCZ2ZmIuEp3A5jZ3Bo&ust=1617896423286000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJi7gIG87O8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

AYEJ is a youth-led environmental media hub providing you the stories that matter, prioritizing environmental education, and training earth warriors of the next generation.

08/04/2021

Ode to the mangroves
Bulacan aerotropolis rises as mangrove park falls
By Miranda Autor, SDO Malolos

For 15 years, 54-year-old Jimmy San Jose had been working as a caretaker of the Bulakan Mangrove Nursery and Eco-Park in Barangay Taliptip in Bulakan town, Bulacan.
But when he first heard of San Miguel Corporation (SMC)’s plans to build an international airport near the park, the news came as a surprise to him as none of the residents had been consulted before any decisions were made.
“Nagulat nga kami nun. Di namin alam pati eco [park], nadamay,” San Jose grumbled. “Bigla na bigla kami nun dahil biglaan talaga ang pagkaka-evict…Wala naman kaming magagawa.”
While SMC has suitably relocated San Jose and his neighbors and compensated them for their houses, the eco-park’s fate remains in question as the corporation begins construction of the New Manila International Airport (NMIA).
This, as Taliptip residents who depend on the area’s natural features for their livelihoods have been moved out to make way for construction of the 2,500-hectare, four-runway aerotropolis, despite mounting concerns raised by environmental advocates.
Why now?
SMC proposed the project in 2018 after signing a deal with the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
The construction of NMIA has been eyed as a move to decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the main gateway into the Philippines and tagged as among the world’s busiest airports.
Even as the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought airports around the country to a grinding halt, the aerotropolis is still greenlit to be built.
Other locals in Bulacan fear that the aerotropolis might worsen floods in their own communities as a result of land reclamation in Taliptip and neighboring Barangay Bambang.
Science advocacy organization AGHAM has also questioned the Environmental Clearance Certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), noting the importance of the mangrove forests in the area.
No-go for the mangroves
As construction of the NMIA continues, the lot designated for the airport has slowly creeped into the Bulakan Mangrove Eco Park, a sprawling marine habitat filled with lush greenery and the titular mangroves.
Although government offices and SMC’s environmental consultant firm, Philkairos Inc., have assured Bulakenyos that the project will spare the mangroves and leave them undisturbed, this seems unlikely, given the conditions required for smooth operations at the airport.
“Tatanggalin yun [mga mangroves]. Pagka hinangin ng eroplano, maraming ibon kaya’t matatanggal yun,” San Jose said, reacting to the statements made by the government and private sector. “Hindi naman pwede na may puno dahil dadapunan ng ibon at dadami ng ibon dun [at the airport].”
The possible presence of birds at the NMIA could potentially endanger the safety of planes taking off if they are found on runways and in the immediate vicinity of the airport.
As long as the mangroves are around, they will continue to attract disruptive wildlife for being a suitable habitat.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the dense root systems of mangrove forests work to trap sediments, which in turn stabilizes coastlines and prevents erosion from waves or storms.
Because the mangroves at the eco-park play a crucial role in mitigating the severity of typhoons and floods, removing them may greatly affect the area’s ecology and environment, posing a threat to coastal communities in Bulacan.
However, SMC has its own plans. Due to his experience working with mangroves, San Jose was recruited by them to help with their tree-planting efforts.
“Kinuha naman ako ng airport. Magagawa daw ng eco-park dito sa Paombong,” he said.
San Jose also noted that the mangroves may take a while before maturing, as he and his colleagues had planted some of them in 2013.
While SMC is planting 25,000 mangroves in Hagonoy, Bulacan and intends to plant a total of 190,000 mangroves across Central Luzon, AGHAM Diliman and PAMALAKAYA pointed out in a joint statement that there is a logging ban on mangroves because of the slow growth of the species.
This means that the mangroves torn down in the eco-park will not be replaced anytime soon.
Even after being compensated and relocated, San Jose was sad to say goodbye after he was removed from his caretaker job at the Bulacan Mangrove Eco-Park, especially that he had witnessed its growth from remnants of former illegal fish ponds blasted by the local government.
With the mangroves no longer under San Jose’s care, soldiers now stand guard over the mangroves as they lay silent, awaiting their final fate. # # #
This article was written and prepared by Miranda Autor (Student-Journalist) and Ma. Isabel Cruz (School Paper Adviser) from Marcelo H. del Pilar National High School, Division of Malolos City as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.

Word count: 725 words

Photo credit: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbusinessmirror.com.ph%2F2020%2F07%2F26%2Fbulacan-aerotropolis-project-goodbye-birds-hello-big-metal-birds%2F&psig=AOvVaw37FJ6GI2fmqBcQwoJeOkOD&ust=1617896616180000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCPig-eO87O8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

AYEJ is a youth-led environmental media hub providing you the stories that matter, prioritizing environmental education, and training earth warriors of the next generation.

08/04/2021

What a Waste: Why zero waste is a need
By Yasmine Nicole Rodriguez

For the past decades, humankind has benefited and made things easier and more convenient with the production of single-use plastics. The usage has been more focused that it compromised the control of proper disposal, which led to negative effects in the environment and for the health.

“Waste is defined as any substances or objects that the holder discards or intends to discard,” written by Ahmad J. Kassim, on Sustainable Solid Waste Recycling.

These wastes are classified into hazardous, such as chemical waste and non-hazardous, like packaging waste.

Improper waste disposal problem and effects

According to Leshara Maniego from the Manila Times, “one of the biggest illusions is that when our trash gets picked up by the garbage collector, it’s no longer our problem; out of sight, out of mind”.

The use of solid waste is not entirely the root cause of the problem, it is the improper disposal of them. There are different effects cited by Metropolitan Transfer Station (MTS) on their website, explaining the negative effects of improper solid waste disposal.

It was explained that soil contamination is caused by the irresponsible disposal of hazardous wastes to the natural resources. “Contamination occurs by spilling and burying hazardous components in soil. So, we need to be watchful of how we process petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals and lead,” said MTS.

Aside from soil contamination, they also gave emphasis to Water contamination. Since water is a solvent, it is more vulnerable to contain numerous dissolved chemicals which then results in “mixes to toxic liquid substances and seeping into the water streams to end up in nearby water bodies. Thus, the neighbourhood fountain, pond, lake or even drinking water taps are susceptible to the dangers of contamination”.

Lastly, the most evident result of improper waste disposal is climate contamination. Harmful greenhouse gases are emitted from decomposing waste. These gases are released to the atmosphere and trap heat. Because of this, there’s an extreme weather condition change happening.

Switching to zero waste: the solution

“A zero waste approach conserves natural resources and reduces pollution from extraction, manufacturing and disposal,” according to the Toronto Environment Organization.

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), a non-government organization in the Philippines, has pioneered the zero waste movement in the country and started in Alaminos, partnered by the government.

“They have created composting systems and sorting facilities, and almost eliminated open burning and dumping as a result,” as written on their website.

In GAIA’s efforts to pursue zero waste, they had to cut old habits and start new ones, including “financial support for printing educational materials, buying shredders for organics and plastics, awarding mini-grants for villages to build eco-sheds and purchase vehicles, and more”. As alternatives, they “provided two full-time employees, transportation for the team, logistical support for all activities and training, technical assistance, and support in strategic planning for the villages”. The “No segregation, no collection policy” was also implemented.

The impact of Alaminos’ changed habits took effect after two years of religiously following the new ones -- lesser wastes and more household segregating and composting biodegradable substances. Because of this, other cities like Tacloban which was badly hit by Yolanda in 2013, have started implementing the initiative and slowly recovered from the past damages.

On GAIA’s website, they have provided a Zero Waste Manual for other cities who want to take the initiative locally and implement a better and more sustainable lifestyle for their respective communities. “The vision for the Zero Waste City Initiative is to minimise the movement of solid waste to disposal sites or facilities,” as stated in their manual. They specifically placed a section for a guide on zero waste, not only for communities but also for businesses. # # # #

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This article was written and prepared by Yasmine Nicole Rodriguez (Student-Journalist) and Wilma Manalo (School Paper Adviser) from Cabiao National High School, Division of Nueva Ecija as a final output of DepEd-DRRMS and AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Initiative: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.

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