MODULE

5
ENVIRONMENT

Learning Objective: At the end of the module, the students are expected to be
responsible and learn how to protect our environment.

Methodology:
Lecture-discussion
Group activity

Requirements: Attendance 30%

Group activity 50%
Participation during discussion 20%
_______________
100%

Learning Content

1. Definition of Environment and Ecological Solid Waste Management

2. Ecological Solid Waste Management – RA 9003
3. Benefits of Ecological Solid Waste Management
4. Objectives of Ecological Solid Waste Management
5. Methodology and uses of five F’s
6. The three R’s of Ecological Solid Waste Management
7. Sources of solid waste in a community
8. Factors that affect waste generation

Time Allotment: 3 hrs

ENVIRONMENT

It is perceived as the immediate surroundings of an individual. In a boarder context,

environment is a complex system which deals with a network of living and non-living entities.

ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

It is a zero-waste management through total recycling for the community. Its main
objective is to make the community permanently and regularly clean, sanitary and litter less. It
also inspires and elicits maximum voluntary participation from almost all of the people and
various sectors of the community while persuasively challenging the creativity skills and
capabilities for cooperation and unity.

ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT act of 2000 – RA 9003

Republic Act 9003 considers “waste as a resource that can be recovered,” emphasizing
re-cycling, re-use and composting as methods to minimize and eventually manage the waste
program.
This act aims for the reduction of solid waste through “source reduction and waste
minimization measures including composting, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal
process, and others before collection, treatment, and disposal in appropriate and
environmentally sound solid waste management facilities in accordance with ecologically
sustainable development principles”. (Section2-C)
It also sets to “ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment,
and disposal of solid waste through formulation and adoption of the best environmental practice
in ecological waste management excluding incineration”. (Section 2-D)
Further, this Act gives strong emphasis on the role of municipal and local government
units (LGUs). It empowers the LGUs to create solid waste management communities even in the
barangay level. This requires the participation of non-government offices, people’s
organizations, church leaders, educators, and other business and community associations.

BENEFITS OF ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

 Simplified, hygienic, dignified management of household waste

 Maximum and optimum recovery or retrieval of much needed, costly materials
 Enhanced ecological balance of the environment, eliminating open dump sites, lessening
pollution of our soil, air and water resources
 Served as a springboard or starting point for useful, timely household or barangay level
projects to help our people endure or overcome the present economic crisis such as:
  Food production (backyard vegetable gardens, mini-space, container gardens,
eco-pounds using household waste water for raising kangkong, gabi, kuhol,
tialapia, azola, etc.)
 Cottage industries (handicraft, house-décor, toys) utilizing discarded materials
and generating employment for housewives, out of school youth and school
children
 Herbal gardens, ornamental plant nurseries, fruit bearing, fuel or firewood
supplying trees (like ipil ipil), organic compost-making techniques, greening
and reforestation projects
 Trash-to-cash projects to generate seed capital for health services and health
education projects, and vocational training programs
 Easily accessible/affordable, result-visible projects that can be easily understood by
almost everyone

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF ECOLOGICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT

1. Utilizing appropriate technology in existing dump site to prolong their life

2. Initially reduce volume of waste stream that mix both compostable and non-
compostable waste
3. Reduce pollution by lessening unnecessary burning
4. Reduce the incidence of diseases associated with unsanitary or unhygienic waste
disposal
5. Utilize waste material for income generating projects such as urban gardening and
livestock raising, cottage industry

METHODOLOGY OF THE FIVE F’s TOTAL RECYCLING

The two kinds of solid waste are:

1. Non-biodegradable or non-compostable
- Factory returnable (dry paper, cardboards, plastic rubber, glass, bottles,
mirror, metals, mineral, tin cans, dry fibers or pieces of clothing, and
wood)
2. Biodegradable or compostable
- Feed materials (food leftovers, kitchen or cooking waste, fruit peeling,
vegetable trimmings, egg shells, and fish entrails)
- Fertilizer materials (food leftovers, kitchen refuse, animal wastes, garden
wastes such as dry leaves and other plant parts, sawdust and wood
shavings)
- Fuel materials (saw dust, shavings, wood boxes, rice hull, coco shells,
corn cobs, coffee hull, newspapers, and cardboards)
- Filling materials (porcelain chips and useable plastics)

What are the most productive/useful/healthful uses of each of the five F’s?
1. Factory recyclables can be used for handicrafts or sold to junk shops
 2. Feed materials can be used for house pets, livestock or for composting
3. Fertilizer materials can be used for making compost to enrich the soil for
growing vegetables, medicinal plants and ornamental plants and fruit trees
4. Fuel materials can be used for cooking purposes
5. Filling materials are unusable or unwanted materials which can be compactly
packed in plastic bags buried low places putting stones and soil over these
filling materials

Why are compostable deadly when not properly managed?

Even if organic compostable are just 10 to 20% per households and with lesser
volume, the potential problems of increasing the density of flies, cockroaches, rodents
(rats) by providing food, harborages and breeding grounds are really dangerous.
Every minute, three Filipinos die, 80% are most related to filth-borne associated
diseases or poor management of solid or liquid waste. The sad thing is that most of them
are children below 6 years of age.
Compostable or organic biomass when allowed on the surface, water body would
mean reduction of dissolved oxygen due to organism planktons growth competing with
the oxygen. This result to reduction of fish population due to fish kill bloom is inevitable.
Siltation sedimentation caused by organic biomass will eventually kill the coral reef
(hence 70% of corals are damaged) due to compostable being eroded by rain.

Why dump sites increase ecological problems?

1. To maintain a dump site is very expensive and it lowers the values of the land
plus it attracts household pests and pollution problems
2. Scavengers are difficult to control at dump sites. The practice of dump site
sorting will bring more misery to the poor and will increase the disease pattern
with volume of waste uncontrolled, top soil covering will be very expensive in
both equipment and energy use
3. Pollution will always be the problem in all dump sites, especially during rainy
days. Air pollution will add gases that are highly toxic.
4. The methane generated by methanuric bacteria if uncollected or not properly
use can contribute 20 times more warming than carbon dioxide in vehicles.

COMPOSTING
It is a biological process in which organic materials such as vegetable trimmings, fruit
peelings, kitchen refuse, dry leaves cut grasses and plant parts are broken down into a soil-like
product. It is a form of recycling, a natural way of returning nutrients to the soil.

What are the benefits of composting?

1. By composting organic wastes at home, one can produce a soil enriches which
can be used in gardening
2. It reduces the incidence of household pests by minimizing their food supply
3. It reduces the valuable landfill spaces normally used to dispose this materials
 What are the types of small-scale composters?
a. Twin pits
b. Paso-paso or clay flower pots compost garden
c. Backyard compost pile

THE THREE TYPES OF Rs OF SLOID WASTE MANAGEMENT

1. R is for REDUCE. Avoid wasteful consumption of goods. Begin by asking the

question: “Do I really need it?” in doing so, we minimize waste and conserve our
natural resources. Conservation like charity begin within thyself.
2. R is for REUSE. When practicable reuse items that is still useful instead of just
throwing them away. It would greatly help if we patronize goods that are reusable
rather than throw away types.
3. R is for RECYCLE. Waste can be valuable resource. Items that are useless or of
little may mean great value to someone.

SOURCES OF SOLID WASTE IN A COMMUNITY

1. Household wastes – waste generated at the household level
2. Commercial-Industrial wastes – generated by restaurants, eateries, offices, markets,
talipapa, plant mills, factories (including such as chemicals, paints and sand)
3. Farm and Agricultural wastes – farm manure and crop residues
4. Institutional wastes – generated by hospitals, schools, churches and prisons
5. Mining wastes – slag heaps and coal refuse piles
6. Miscellaneous and Specialized wastes – residues of sewage treatment plants, ash from
incinerators and residues from the combustion of solid fuels, debris caused by
disasters (fires, typhoons, flood, etc.) large waste from demolitions and construction
rubble, and dead animals.
7. Hazardous wastes – wastes that pose a potential hazard to living creatures because
they are toxic or lethal, non-degradable or persistent in nature, and may cause
detrimental cumulative effects.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT WASTE GENERATION

1. The state of the national economy – as standards arise, there is a corresponding
increase in the quantity and quality of wastes
2. The lifestyle of the people – reflected in product marketing techniques, such as the
clearly perceptible shift in consumer preferences for pre-packaged foodstuff, the
increase in use of paper lined with plastics for packaging, and the use of disposable
diapers.
3. The demographic profile of the population – the greater the number of persons per
household, the greater volume of waste generated
4. The size and type of dwelling – those who dwell in larger and more expensive type
homes produce more waste per capita.
5. Age – young consumers patronize a set of products different from those consumed by
their elders.
 6. Religion – consumer preferences in Islamic countries differ greatly with
predominantly Christian nations.
7. The extent to which the 3R’s are carried out – where the population is more
concerned with the environment in general, there is a concerted effort to cut down
waste at the point of origin
8. Presence of pets and domestic animals
9. Seasonal variations
10. Presence of laws and ordinances governing waste management
11. Company buy-lack guarantees for used containers and packaging

Integrating Activity:

Group Project (to be made on the second meeting)

Each group (10 to 11 members) will collect solid waste materials from their
houses, and bring it on the second meeting. From the collected waste materials,
each group will conceptualize an item or product with the theme of Nationalism
(in commemoration of Linggo ng Wika). The item or product will be judged
based on the criteria:
Creativity – 30%
Originality – 20%
Use of recycled materials – 40%
Salability – 10%
___________
100%

______________________________________________________________________________
References:

Waste Management and Waste Segregation

An Information Pamphlet on RA 2003
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000
Dela Cruz, Sonia-Gasilla, National Development via National Service Training
Program (CWTS & ROTC), 2005.