NU12 Idea #8: Public Compost Cans by Mariko Franca

NU12 Idea #8:  Public Compost Cans by Mariko Franca

I read a post of a friend in Facebook that says trash from Los Banos, Laguna are brought to the landfill in San Pedro, Laguna.  And we know that the trash of Metro Manila is also thrown in other places in Luzon.  It seems unfair right?  I've wondered before if the garbage of one city was managed by that city then the Payatas tragedy could have been prevented.  Of course we can say it's the people's fault they decided to live there but that's another story and something I'd rather not go into.  Then one day I was walking in the streets and I saw metro aides collecting garbage from the public trash cans.  It's ironic because we see bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable but when it is collected, everything goes together.  So I thought what if public trash cans are connected to compost pits?

What people will see are still the usual plastic or metal trash cans with labels biodegradable and non-biodegradable.  The biodegradable bin has no bottom.  Instead, it will have a compost pit underneath it so that metro aides will no longer collect the trash.  After a while, the aides will pour soil over the trash to cover it and wait for it to turn into compost.  The biodegradable bin will then be transferred to another place where another compost pit will be prepared again.  To ensure that only biodegradable materials are thrown into the bins, there will be an announcement similar to this:

"This is a Compost Can.  Please put only biodegradable materials such as paper, food leftovers, [etc.] and someday we can plant flowers to make our place beautiful."

With this, only the non-biodegradable will be collected and thrown into landfills or brought to a recycling center.  If the Compost Cans are used in residential areas, the compost can also be collected by homeowners and be used in their own gardens. 3