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

NU12 Idea #6 Revised: Elevator Parking Space at Home by Mariko Franca

[Hi Prof Jorge! I am sending another NU12 #6 because my original entry entitled "What pisses me at the mall" is not posted in the blog. I hope this one passes. Thank you!]

By Mariko Franca

          One thing I do not like as a driver in our village is the cars "illegally" parked outside the houses.  It is OK if the car owner is a visitor but there are homeowners who actually use the street as their permanent parking area.  There is one particular street I pass by regularly where almost all the homeowners have at least one car parked outside of their homes.  You can just imagine that a street with a width good for only two cars is occupied on both sides.  It annoys me as a driver because it is a busy street and so if there is an incoming vehicle, I need to either look for a niche among the parked cars where I can fit or drive back on reverse so that the other vehicle can pass through.

          There are probably some homeowners who did not foresee the possibility that they will have many cars someday so when they had their house built, they made their parking space fit for only one car.  However, there might also be some who just didn't want their parking space to occupy much of the land area so they really intended to use the street as their own space.  Whatever the reason is, I think that it is not right because it is a public space.

          Since I cannot tell my neighbors to stop buying cars or buy another land so they have a proper parking space, what I suggest is an elevator car parking space.  I see those public parking buildings in foreign films which has elevator car park machines.  This enables at least two vehicles to occupy the same vertical space.  It is also similar to the one you see in gasoline stations with car care areas where the car is placed in a lift and is mechanically raised so that the mechanic can see the underside of the vehicle.  Homeowners can install the lift in their house so they can maximize the vertical space in their parking space especially for those who only have a small land area.  They can make the car elevator go up or it can go underground if their parking space has a roof.

          Some advantages I see in having an elevator parking space are:

1.  stop being a nuisance to your neighbors and other people who pass thru the street;

2.  added security for the car because it will not be inside the gate;

3.  added care for the car because the possibility of it getting hit or scratched by the vehicles passing thru is lessened; and

4.  maximize the land area for the house instead of eating it up for use as a parking space. 4

NU12 #3: Living Roof in the City by Mariko Franca

[Hi Prof Jorge!  I am sending another NU12 #3 because my original post about Smokon' disappeared from the blog.  I hope this one passes.  Thank you!]

I've been coughing my lungs out for almost a week now.  I tried to get my father to allow me to bring the car to school because I did not want to expose my sick self to the pollution that surrounds Metro Manila.  It's enough that I am already like a car exhaust.  I do not need to inhale the smoke coming from buses and jeepneys and other vehicles.

I was walking in Rockwell today and I noticed the plants around me.  I thought, what if all the buildings in Makati, Pasig, and other congested cities had living roofs?  A living roof is an old idea and is done in other parts of the world but I don't know of any building or  house in our country that has it.  Office buildings  in the city will be planted with grass, flowers, and low-lying shrubs that are resilient against the wind and storm.  It will be set-up in such a way that the leaves and dirt will not be carried by the wind on an ordinary day and fall on pedestrians below.  A living roof is also an alternative for buildings or areas who would like to plant but has no space.   Ayala Center or EDSA have plants all over but for some like in Paranaque it is not the case. There are in some streets or if they have, the plants are wilting or are stepped on by people especially in the public areas.
I know this is hard work and building owners will have to spend on the landscaping, the plants, the manpower to oversee the maintenance of the living roof, and the maintenance materials (i.e. water, gardening tools).  However, I think the benefits outweigh the costs.  I've read before that living roofs can help cool a house during summer.  Our country has more hot days than cold days so if the roof can help lessen the heat, electricity used by air-conditions might be lessened too.  Next, living roofs can help lessen the smog that is perpetually in our atmosphere.  The smog will be turned into clean air which is good for the commuters, office-goers, and pedestrians.  [We do not usually notice the smog but sometimes when I am in the Skyway or flyover, I can see the smog and it looks scary].  Lastly, since the air that goes up into the ozone layer is "cleaner", we are also helping preserve this endangered layer and fight global warming. 4

And maybe, when buildings in the city have living roofs, the atmosphere will be less scary to look at from the flyover, pedestrians will breath cleaner air, and I will have less coughing episodes.

NU12 Idea #4: Recycling Tickets and Receipts by Mariko Franca

     Every Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays I eat dinner at fast food restaurants.  I always ask for my receipt but then I usually just leave it on my tray.  Whenever I ride the bus I am given a ticket.  I stuff it in my coin purse or bag and forget about it until such time it starts to overflow.

     I know receipts and tickets are needed to confirm transaction of sale and to ensure that the establishment pays taxes.  However, imagine the amount of paper used in making these and the trash accumulated by it.  Bus tickets litter the floor of the vehicle and sometimes inserted in the nook and corners of the bus seat.

     At first I thought what if we just use e-tickets and e-receipts.  Like in Singapore, buses use a card that you just need to swipe for your payment.  We can do that for buses but there are times when we need receipts for reimbursement purposes or when filing taxes at BIR.  I think that one very simple alternative we can explore to address the problem in paper wastage and littering is to put recycle bins specifically for receipts and bus tickets in the restaurants and buses, respectively.  The bins will be placed near the door so that the commuters and diners can drop off the papers before leaving.  4

     The government needs to help implement this endeavor.  It can give incentives to printing shops that will accept old tickets and receipts.  The shops will recycle these and use it to create new ticket papers and receipts.  Meanwhile, the establishment or bus owners will experience the following benefits:

1.  Lower printing costs because they will get a discount for bringing their own paper (the old tickets and receipts).  They only need to pay for the printing and not anymore for the paper.

2.  It will be good for the company's reputation because they will be seen as caring for the environment.  It can even be their CSR program.

3.  Less litter.

     The recycle bin can also have a shredder function to cater to those who are concerned about security.  An example is those who dine in expensive restaurants and pay thousands of pesos for their meals.

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OTHER NEW IDEAS ARTICLES

F 22 raptor 

Maglev trains

Hydrogen peroxide powered helicopter

Infographics template

Hydrogen peroxide powered personal rocket

NU12 Idea #1: The Cover Master by Mariko Franca

"WHAT PISSES YOU OFF AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD?  WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?"

One of the things I do not like is the noise pollution caused by a house construction.  Our neighbor's house has been undergoing renovation since summer and I hate it when I am woken up by the hammering, the electrical cutting of metals, and the like especially when it's a Saturday.

This may be a bit far-fetched but what if we have mechanism that can build a temporary dome-like sound-proof cover over a construction area?  For the purpose of this paper, let's call it The Cover Master.

The Cover Master will have the following features:

1.  Sound-proof – the noise from the construction site will be contained inside The Cover Master.  Neighbors will be spared from the irritating noise.  The sound-proof feature may also work for the construction workers since it will help lessen the noise similar to how a sound-proofer works in a sound-proofed room (i.e. music studios and cinemas).

2.  Transparent color – so the natural light from the sun will not be blocked allowing the construction workers unhampered view of their task at hand.

3.  Adjustable – The Cover Master can be adjusted (mechanically or digitally) to cover a small or big area depending on the size of the area of construction.

4.  Breathable – The Cover Master material is breathable so that the air can still flow in and out of the dome preventing possible oxygen deficiency or suffocation of the workers.

The Cover Master can also be used during parties especially those with videokes (Filipinos just love doing this at any hour of the day with or without parties).  The Cover Master can be activated so the neighbors can continue to have a good night sleep while the people at the party continue to sing their hearts out until the wee hours of the morning.

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