The so-called garbage warriors in this city remain hopeful that all residents will support their waste management programs.

“Little by little they (the residents) are getting into it… I was propagating the idea of individual adoption of the waste management in their homes and they simply say it is difficult, but little by little I have confidence that as long as we continue the advocacy, we will get the people to imbibe personal contribution by managing their wastes,” said Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, chairperson of the Committee on Health, Sanitation and Environment of the city’s legislative body, in an interview on Monday.

Tabanda said that while the advocacy targets all sectors, they also do information campaigns for the day care learners and their parents.

“We start them young with the idea that they can contribute in solving the garbage problem,” the lawyer said.

Tabanda authored the ordinance that requires the conduct of a quarterly “Waste Sustainability Fair” in the city to showcase good practices and enjoin individuals to participate in the city’s waste reduction program.

“As chairman of the committee, I am hopeful and I am working with all the different government and non-government organizations to be able to support this,” she said.

She added that as part of the campaign, they are adopting the policy of circular economy where reduction, reuse, repurpose of wastes is encouraged to have no or minimal wastes generated.

Tabanda said the city government spends around PHP280 million annually to haul out garbage to the engineered sanitary landfill in Region 3.

“We are trying to come up with different solutions to help reduce garbage cost, so that we will be able to use the funds for other more important purposes,” she added. (PNA)