GAYA ng mga nakaraang pagsalubong sa Bagong Taon, tambak ng basura ang bumulaga sa Metro Manila ngayong araw.
Ayon sa EcoWaste Coalition bagamat nakatutuwa na makitang masaya ang maraming pamilya hindi pa rin natitigil ang pagkakalat ng marami sa mga ito.
“But what makes this beautiful tradition ugly is our penchant to consume and throw a lot of things as can be seen from the overflowing bins to the garbage piles dotting our neighborhoods following the revelry,” ani Daniel Alejandre, Zero Waste Campaigner ng EcoWaste.
Sinabi ni Alejandre na ang Enero ay ‘Zero Waste Month’ pero tambak ng basura ang makikita sa maraming lugar.
“We found mixed wastes dumped in our cities’ streets, including food leftovers, product packaging, plastics and hazardous residuals from firecrackers and fireworks.”
Sa datos ng Metro Manila Development Authority sa Quezon City may pinakamaraming nahahakot na basura na umaabot sa 3,610 tonelada kada araw, sumunod ang Manila City (1,175 tonelada) Caloocan City (913 tonelada), Marikina City (460 tonelada), Paranaque City (635 tonelada) at Makati City (474 tonelada).
Sa kabuuang, 9,872 tonelada ng basura ang nakokolekta araw-araw sa Metro Manila, 25 porsyento ng 40,000 basura ng bansa araw-araw.
“While we demand that manufacturers embrace clean production and extended producer responsibility, we as consumers need to consume responsibly, choose products in least packaging, and ditch single-use plastics altogether.
We should also properly sort our discards to facilitate their reuse, recycling or composting,” dagdag pa ni Alejandre.