Rapid urbanization and population growth in the province of Cebu has prompted local officials to intensify efforts at waste segregation in order to optimize income from waste and reduce the volume of garbage dumped into landfills. At the bottom of this endeavor, are women who with proper information on the value of waste are instrumental in making a cleaner environment while increasing their household incomes as well.

   Women in the town of Liloan in northern Cebu are slowly reaping the good results of segregating their household wastes by earning from recyclables.

   Aside from directly creating a clean environment, residents in the barangays (villages) of San Vicente, Jubay, and Calero have actually turned their waste into money.

   Since September 2006, the residents of these barangays have begun to segregate their wastes into biodegradable and non-biodegrable. This newly acquired consciousness has raked in additional income for their families, since the non-biodegradable wastes are bought by the barangay government and recycle these.

   "Tinuod gyud nga naay kwarta sa basura. Ang among mga basiyo sa shampoo ug mga botilya sa tambal gipalit man sa barangay," says Malou Chavez, a resident of Jubay. (It is true that there is money in trash. Our empty bottles of shampoo and medicine bottles are bought by the barangay.)

   With a little effort at segregating empty plastic bottles of shampoo or breakable bottles of medicine and food preserves, each household earns, as barangay Jubay buys empty bottles of shampoo at five pesos per kilogram. Medicine bottles, on the other hand, are bought at thirty centavos each. The barangay buys the recyclable wastes every Sunday.

   In the kitchen of Chavez, there are four plastic bins, labeled malata nga basura (biodegrable) where food leftovers are placed and dili malata nga basura (non-biodegradable) where plastic and breakable bottles are placed.

   Linda Martinez, on the other hand, has also taught her two children not to crumple their waste papers but instead place them in a designated box that she has placed in their bedroom. Buyers of scratch paper visit households in Liloan every Monday.

   The solid waste management project of Jubay started in June 2004, and was introduced by the Partners Committed to Environment and Economic Management Foundation Inc. (Cebu PCEEM Foundation). The foundation has partnered with the local government units (LGUs) of Compostela and Liloan in order to bring about a more effective and efficient "bottoms up" system of garbage disposal.

   "An environmentally-conscious household in every barangay is the key to a successful solid waste management program," said Engr. Roberto Concepcion, officer in charge of the Solid Waste Management Program of PCEEM.

   Cebu PCEEM aims to carryout an ecosystem management program for Cebu province. It came as a result of the Philippines-Canada Environmental and Economic Management Project which is funded by the Canadian government through the Canadian International Development Agency.

   Under its Community-based Solid Waste Management Project, Cebu PCEEM and the LGUs jointly undertake a solid waste management system, primarily anchored on education of community people on proper garbage disposal and reduction of waste through recycling and composting of useful wastes.

   "People should be made aware that not all of garbage have to be thrown away. They should be taught to segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes. They can in fact earn by selling compost and recyclable materials," Concepcion explained.

   PCEEM studies show that each individual produces half a kilogram of waste everyday. Hence in Cebu, where the population is close to two million, solid waste management is as serious an undertaking as providing job opportunities for the people.

   The Cebu Community-based Solid Waste Management Project is created pursuant to Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act that mandates every local government unity to create a solid waste management program.

   Jubay councilman Dionisio Serapion, chairperson of the environment, natural resources, and agriculture committee, said the bigger challenge the barangay officials are facing is to sustain the information drive in every household, so that they would continuously segregate wastes and not just dump them anywhere.

   The Barangay Jubay Solid Waste Management Organization includes the entire slate of the council, the youth officials, non-government organizations within the barangay, and chapel leaders who go about teaching and organizing households to segregate their wastes.

   The Community-based Solid Waste Management Project has two approaches. The first approach is the community collection of residual waste and delivering them to transfer points for collection by the municipal government. The second approach is community-based primary collection with source separation and waste reduction through composting and trade in inorganic materials for recycling.

   Concepcion said that highly advanced and expensive technologies do not necessarily ensure the sustainability of solid waste management systems. "The key is community participation, and not the expensive garbage trucks. Without proper education, people will just dump their unsegregated garbage everywhere,” he said.

   Under this joint project of the LGU and Cebu PCEEM, a network of "purok" (clusters) within the barangay will be organized. Each purok has a core of leaders that is tasked to orient and train local residents on proper waste management, as exemplified by the experience in barangay Jubay.

   Ten barangays in Liloan and eight barangays in Compostela already have solid waste management committees tasked to implement the project. The local governments, for their part, are tasked to identify and develop the area for landfill where residual wastes are dumped.

   Cebu PCEEM president Engr. Jose Mari Bigornia revealed that the provincial government is planning to set up two landfills in the northern and southern part of the province in order to respond to the growing waste disposal problem.

   Bigornia however noted that segregation, recycling, and composting of wastes could very well reduce the dumping of wastes at the landfill and at the same time, increase the income of households while promoting a clean environment.

   "There is no other better way to clean the environment but to start from each household. High technology for waste collection is only secondary," Bigornia noted.the dumping of wastes at the landfill and at the same time, increase the income of households while promoting a clean environment.

   In Cebu City, meanwhile, local government officials are likewise intensifying efforts to segregate wastes at the household level in order to prolong the carrying capacity of the landfill.