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.