Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Dark Hours During Typhoon Pedring's Fury

After barely three hours of sleep, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to prepare breakfast for my eldest son, Marco, who has an early morning class.  I  felt that the wind was gusty to a major degree and there's the rain to contend with.  I switched on the television to check if classes will be suspended as well (before my youngest daughter, Kara, went to sleep, she announced to all that she doesn't have classes the next day as the Department of Education has already cancelled classes for pre-school, elementary and high school on account of typhoon Pedring) for the collegiate level.  My other  children, Marco and Nina, are in college.  Upon hearing that the school administrators of the different colleges have already issued a cancellation, I hastily went back to bed to recover hours of lost sleep.  I slept soundly and woke up late in the morning though there was an electrical outage as several trees have been uprooted and branches have fallen that wrecked havoc on electrical cables.  It was a nice feeling being able to experience a good night's sleep once again without the aid of an aircon.

The nice feeling of sleeping the night away without electricity has been short-lived though.  Preparing for brunch posed a problem.  I badly needed to reheat last night's leftover food using the microwave.  Reheating food using the gas stove means that I have to wash big pots and pans in the dark afterwards.  Dusk has arrived and still electricity has not been restored yet in our area.  My children called several stores for food delivery as it is so difficult to prepare and cook food in the dark.  Nobody answered their calls.  My hubby and daughter instead prepared dinner of leftover food (again) and hotdogs (have to be consumed before they become stale) and fried rice.  We have to consume almost two tubs of ice cream in one seating before it becomes soupy.

Fallen trees
Pedring's fury
The powerless day dragged on for hours, to be exact, twelve hours.  We found ourselves looking for things to do as all our laptops were reduced to useless appendages without electricity.  Mobile phones have erratic signals and cannot be used to send emails as well.  Life in our house practically halted to a standstill.  I thought if solar panels are affordable, then our over-dependence on electricity will be a thing of the past.  I cannot emphasize enough that the Philippines is staring at the big potential of solar energy as an alternative source of energy.  Should the private sector take the lead in this endeavor or does the burden rest on the government's shoulders?

Solar panels on the roof of a house.
http://www.hotpundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/solar-energy-nj-tax-credits.jpg





Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Incinerators Vs. Waste Segregation

Exactly five months ago today, I wrote Is It About Time We Consider Using the Incinerator? also for this blog.  I  wrote that article because I was so aghast seeing the mounds of garbage that lined up Retiro Avenue in Quezon City on my way to the clinic of my dermatologist.  Nearby residents had piled plastics of garbage along the avenue for easy collection by the city garbage collector.  We are a very hygienic people in terms of our own bodies but quite the opposite with our trash.

Yesterday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer featured MMDA Favors Burning of Trash, an article about the plans of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) of using incinerators in solving once and for all the pestering problem on garbage.   The problem on garbage disposal has been in the news lately because of last month's trash slide in Baguio City triggered by heavy rains of typhoon Mina that killed several people and buried houses at the same time.  People and houses getting killed and buried by the avalanche of garbage will not stop if there are sanitary landfills.

The trash slide at Baguio City at the height of typhoon Mina.

The environmental group, Ecowaste Coalition reacted negatively on MMDA's plans on making incineration the preferred solution to the age old problem of garbage disposal.   Paeng Lopez of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, a non government organization under Ecowaste Coalition, in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that "large scale" solutions like incineration will not work.  Incinerators emit dioxins and furans that are harmful to health even at small doses.  Mr. Lopez' group is espousing waste segregation as the best solution to our garbage woes which at the same time fertilizes the soil through composting.

Though the concept of waste segregation sounds ideal, it is not the best solution to the problem of waste disposal for an urban community like Metro Manila.  For one, waste segregation requires land space for composting of the biodegradable waste.  We all know that land prices in Metro Manila and other urban centers are prohibitive.  Look outside and residential buildings, whether for condominiums, apartments and townhouses, are sprouting everywhere.  This new style of housing does not come with land space that could be used for composting.  Composting may work in the provinces where land is sprawling and available but not in the urban centers.

Waste segregation bins

The sheer volume of garbage in Metro Manila is no joke.  According to Sec. Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), garbage from Metro Manila accounts for 25% of the total garbage.  If the trash will not be burned, the sanitary landfills will fill up sooner than we think.

The third reason why incineration is the best solution for Metro Manila and other urban centers is that space for sanitary landfills are getting scarcer by the day.  Communities living near proposed landfills express their opposition to such plans.  Living near sanitary landfills are also not safe for the health of the people and the pollution of the air, water and soil that comes with it.  It is difficult to contain dangerous chemicals from seeping into the land and water system.  Landfills produce methane that is bad for the environment as it increases global warming.

Waste segregation requires the cooperation of a big majority of people for it to work.  If the households in Metro Manila which account for a big chunk of the garbage can't practice composting because of the lack of space to do it, waste segregation will not fly.  For the rest of the Philippines, waste segregation  is it.