Barangay leaders should build Zero Waste Communities

The Association of Barangay Councils is listed as one of 14 government sectors that compose the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

Perhaps, instead of just sitting in, it should be mandated with a more important role of implementing a Zero Waste Program in communities all throughout the archipelago.

It could be a self-funding program which provides people in the community incomes while unburdening the municipal or city government with the cost of waste disposal.

A large part of waste generated at the community level is organic waste which can be turned into organic fertlizer, which can either be used by establishing a communal vegetable garden or processed and sold to partner communities in countrysides where farmers can make use of the organic waste.

Recyclables can be recovered by the barangay.  Bulk sales of cleaned plastics, metals, and other recyclables fetch better prices than those merely scavenged by roaming junk collectors.  Perhaps barangays can even forge deals directly with recyclers themselves and cut out the middlemen -- eliminating the scourge of unsightly and potentially dangerous junk shops.