Trash-for-rewards drive launched in Parañaque
By Jaymee T. Gamil
In Parañaque, garbage can be converted into school supplies or basic food items.
The city’s public schools are now active participants in the local government’s Eco-Buddies Save the Parañaque Environment program, a waste segregation scheme which hands out rewards for recyclable materials.
The program, which was launched at the Parañaque Elementary School on Sept. 7, calls on students and teachers to bring trash which can be recycled to their respective schools during “Eco-Day” or every second and fourth Friday of the month.
These include paper, aluminum cans, PET or plastic bottles, copper, steel, cardboard boxes and cartons and washed glass bottles and tin cans.
These will then be assessed for their monetary value. For every P1 worth of recyclable materials, the participants get a reward point which will then be recorded in their Eco-Buddies passbook.
Twice a year, an “Eco-Buddies Bus” will visit the school for “Redemption Day” during which participants can redeem or exchange their reward points for educational toys, school uniforms, notebooks, crayons, coloring books, clipboards, pencils, paper or basic commodities like sugar, rice, coffee and noodles.
Great job!!! This is a very good program.
Please include plastic bags in the list of items that you will accept for segregation & recycling. They are accepted and are being bought per kilo by recycling facilities, as well.
Contrary to what people know, plastic bags are 100% recyclable. The bags are converted back to resins to be used again for hard non-food plastic containers, trashbags, seedling bags, and construction materials.
Thank you for having this program. Great idea!!!