One Child, One Tree Conducts Community Survey on Solid Waste Management

26 January 2019, Hagonoy, Bulacan. One Child, One Tree (OCOT) volunteers in partnership with Leading Environment Action for the Future (LEAF) members led by its mentor Mr Jose Aguilar conducted a survey in Abulalas, Hagonoy, Bulacan. Barangay councillors guided the volunteers as they conducted house to house interviews.

The survey is aimed at exploring the views of community residents on solid waste management including waste segregation. This is the first step towards planning a community-based solid waste management program to address the garbage problem in the barangay.

Barangay Abulalas has a population of 5,999 and is one of the 26 barangays in Hagonoy, Bulacan. It has an elementary school which is also a partner of OCOT on projects like tree planting and bio-intensive gardens.

LEAF volunteers come from different barangays in Hagonoy and have been supporting the different environmental projects of One Child, One Tree from mangrove planting to coastal clean ups.

Before going to the field to conduct their interviews, the volunteers received a short training on survey research facilitated by Ayesa Agniezka Sali-Santos. Ayesa taught them why research is important and how it can help in developing and planning a successful project. Also present were three barangay council members- Mr Jun Magaling, Mrs Lina Espiritu, and Mr Vicente Cruz and Barangay chairperson Elizabeth Mercado. Mrs Mercado thanked the volunteers for their dedication and reported that the barangay council is seriously looking into sorting out the garbage issue in a more sustainable way. She also said that one hurdle could be the buy-in of community residents and that there is a need for more awareness campaigns.

As always, OCOT never lets its volunteers go hungry, so a simple lunch of pancit guisado (local noodle dish) was prepared by Klaude Niklaus Sali. Klaude used reusable containers and volunteers brought their own forks to avoid adding to the plastic waste problem.

We would like to thank all the volunteers who have given up their Sunday to help us with this activity. We also thank Mrs Remy Pangan and Abulalas Elementary School’s principal Mrs Lita Sarto for allowing us to use one classroom. Thank you to Mr Rey Reyes who donated vegetables and noodles for the pancit.

The next step after the survey results have been analysed is to plan the program with the barangay council and OCOT volunteers.

One Child, One Tree is a family advocacy group put up by Sali Family. It is aimed at helping to mitigate the impact of climate change through tree planting and solid waste management.

We encourage individuals of all ages to volunteer. If you are interested, please email Natalia Sali at natsali2001@yahoo.com.

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In 2015, the Philippine government submitted to the United Nations the country’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The country committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2030. The carbon dioxide reductions will come from the sectors of energy, transport, waste, forestry and industry.

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