To celebrate Earth Day yesterday, the Cebu Park and officials of its neighboring barangays gathered and urged the public to go into waste segregation.
Cebu Holdings Inc., (CHI); Ayala Center Cebu; and Cebu Business Park and Neighboring Barangays Altruistic Alliance Inc (CBP-NBAAI) together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launched the Waste Exchange program at the Ayala Center Cebu yesterday.
The activity was attended by Cebu Cit Councilor Nestor Archival, chairman of the committee on playgrounds, parks, wildlife and ecology. He commended the participating barangays, Cebu Holdings Inc and Ayala Center Cebu for leading the activity.
Recycled
"Every day, we are throwing kilos of garbage to out landfills. 80 percent of our daily garbage could still be recycled and composted and is estimated to earn up to 1.5 million pesos a day. We need money, thus this waste conversion is very helpful to us," Archival.
Archival said the City Government will support the barangays who will start the "Kwarta sa Basura" projects by giving it P10,000.
Executives of Cebu Holdings Inc. and Ayala Center Cebu, headed by Francis Monera, president of CHI, joined the activity, together with barangay captains of the six participating barangays: Luz, Careta, Hipodromo, Mabolo, Apas and Camputhaw.
The Waste Exchange at Ayala Center Cebu was a one-day event where the public could exchange their recyclables into cash. These recyclables are weighed and the recyclers pay the seller the amount corresponding to the volume of the wastes.
Susan Cuizon, 42, a resident of Sitio City Central, Barrio Luz, came to the event and brought with her several sacks of recyclable wastes.
Source of income
"This activity helps in minimizing wastes. It???s a source of income as well", she said.
Other activities were held to raise environmental awareness. These included a demonstration of composting, a film showing and a display of Barangay Luz residents' products made from recyclables.
"Waste Exchange in Ayala Center Cebu is no ordinary waste market. It has a unique feature, which is the active involvement of the locators at Cebu Business Park, merchants at Ayala and the neighboring barangays. This is a fitting tribute to Earth Day," said Monera.
The launching was also highlighted by the signing of the environmental pledge- a commitment to do simple things to protect the environment.