I have been living in Cagayan de Oro City ever since I was three years old and I have long been familiar with the social norms of the city. These norms include knowing and loving “Chingkee Tea” and eating unlimited chicken wings almost every week. Although the practices mentioned above are not even a millimeter near “bad” and “unsafe”, there is still a negative side to this. A very common example is this: You just finished drinking your milk tea and there is just no trashcan that can house the empty cup. So, you held the cup in your hand until you come across a bin. But, when you do, you are such in a hurry to go to the movie cafe that you placed the trash inside the container labelled “biodegradable” when in fact it should be thrown inside the one beside it. You think it’s okay because you’re the only one who did it. You think you’re the only careless person while everyone else is mindful of their trash. But, truth is, no, they’re not. Whether you like it or not, most people think the same way you just did when they throw a trash inside the wrong bin. “Oh, that’s fine. At least everyone else won’t do it.” That’s where you’re WRONG.
Trash has always been a problem in the city. No matter what kind of solutions the government think of, there will always be a loophole. People complained that trash cans should be within everyone’s reach. They said that too much distance encourages the thrower to just leave the trash everywhere. The government solved this easily and placed numerous trash cans in all public places and streets. Most trash bins around the city have different labels on each one. These labels can be the basic biodegradable-non-biodegradable or the more specific ones which are “plastics”, “papers” and others. Although this “labelling trash cans” system is actually a good idea, no one still following them. A loophole of this idea is that some people don’t even understand biodegradable and non-biodegradable. This problem was partially solved when the two words were translated into Bisaya which were “malata” and “dili malata.” That ‘kind-of’ solved the problem for a short while before another problem emerged. At first it was great but, eventually, the citizens got too tired of taking a second to read the labels. So, they throw it in the wrong cans. They just stopped taking it seriously.
Improper waste disposal does not sound too serious and people need to rethink that kind of mentality. According to a website called Junk King, it is a deadly practice and I couldn’t have agreed more. Some of the effects I will be mentioning are based on the site itself. The first effect is from a site called Metropolitan Transfer Station. There are objects that cannot come in contact with each other because they may create a reaction. This relates to the segregation of trash because a trash placed in the wrong container might taint another and could not possibly end with a good result. An example would be when water would be contaminated by a toxic waste, it’s chemical composition might change, making it harmful for any kind of use. Another effect is when soil, water and air would become contaminated with hazardous materials. This can contribute to the creation of greenhouse gases and harm to marine and wildlife. This effect sums up all of the other effects of improper trash segregation. It covers water, soil and air contamination and its effect on animals.
Waste is just dumped on the ground, meaning they come in contact with the soil, and we all know there is water on the ground, called groundwater. It contaminates the land where we grow our crops and where animals get to eat and drink. The waste in the marine life kills the fishes in the ocean and carcasses float on the surface and mosquitoes just love feeding on it. Soon, disease-carrying mosquitoes might just destroy humanity. So, better to be safe than sorry!
Prevention is better than cure. So, I have thought of suggestions to help Cagayan de Oro solve their long-running problem of improper trash segregation. First of all, the youth is the future because we are the next leaders of our country and of the world. That is why schools should educate their students on this issue. It will not just be about segregation but garbage disposal in general. That way, people of the future would be able to distinguish biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash. Next up is to make labels that are readable and understandable by the general population. It shouldn’t just be labelled as “biodegradable” or “non-biodegradable”, it should be translated not only to Bisaya, but to Tagalog, Maranao and other dialects spoken in our country.
If possible, to aid uneducated people of the city, there should be more options than two. I’m sure there would be enough budget to add third and fourth trashcans and change all the labels to “plastic”, “paper”, “metal”, “glass” and “organic”. That would make everyone’s life easier, including the garbage collectors. This next solution might be a little over the top, but, all sold products should have a label on their packaging saying which garbage can to throw it. This is already happening but not everyone is following this and it’s alarming.
The last one is to have garbage cans EVERYWHERE. It should be a requirement for every building to have color-coded trash cans outside their property. In case people who have a storage of trash in their bags would happen to walk by, there would be trash cans waiting for them. Won’t that be great? We are so caught up with our own selves that we do not notice the people who are working extra just because we don’t throw our trash properly. The garbage collectors, instead of going home, have to stay so they can separate the trash from recyclable to non-recyclable. We should think of others’ well-being than ourselves to be able to mold a better generation of youth in the future.
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Miss Alice 