Plastic bottles, plastic cellophane?  These are often dumped, resulting in filthy and clogged drains. However, in Barangay Doyos, Carrascal, Surigao del Norte, they are collected and made into a really nice sofa set.

 

This is done with the use of plastic rubbish, which is turned into eco-bricks. To do this, the goal is to produce ten to fifteen eco-bricks with the use of strategy. To produce fifteen (15) eco-bricks, it will take three sacks of plastic waste.

“Kapag may kaganapan sa aming barangay o sa kabilang barangay pumupunta kami hindi lang para sa kasiyahan kundi para mamulot ng basura, o kaya naman sa tuwing may batang kumakain hinihingi namin basura [plastic] nila, [When there is an event in our barangay or across the barangay, we go not just for enjoyment but to pick up trash, or whenever someone eats, we’d ask for their [plastic] trash],” Lilia Ladroma, 49 years old, who is an RRP-CFW beneficiary of Barangay Doyos shared.

 

“Malinis na. Plano naming ipagpatuloy to nang sa ganon makaugalian na nila. Sa katunayan, may nagpaabiso ng bibili ng ecobricks sa amin, [It’s clean. We plan to continue it so they would get used to it. In fact, someone notified us that they would buy eco-bricks from us],” Tito T. Garcia, Barangay Doyos Chairperson said in his observation of the eco-brick project implementation.

 

Together with the local and provincial government unit of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, two hundred (200) beneficiaries in Barangay Doyos from the Risk Resiliency Program – Cash for Work (RRP-CFW) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga received their Php 3,500 wage.

 

Furthermore, the said initiative supports Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which provides the necessary policy framework, institutional mechanisms, and mandate to the local government units (LGUs) to achieve 25% waste reduction through establishing an integrated solid waste management plan based on 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycling).

Through the RRP-CFW, the Agency aims to make every community resilient against disasters. The program also reminds everyone that if not appropriately managed, plastic trash will cause blockage and may result in flooding.