By Jen Freeman
As a point of much contention and discussion amongst the island's residents and stakeholders, we asked the local community for their feedback on the following questions:
How do you assess the current garbage situation on Boracay?
What do you see as the problem, and what can you suggest as a solution (and by whom)?
Rosemarie Sen
Bins on the beach are needed badly. Garbage collection hours are unreasonable. Where do we throw batteries etc?
The current company should submit solutions to the current issues. Are they properly disposed once they are collected? Is the bidding process transparent?
Bev Harness
Taking your garbage out between 2am and 5am?? I have to set the alarm, grab the garbage, walk down an unlit road, leave it, walk back and then try to sleep again....! I get that they don't want stray animals to damage the bags and spread it all over, but really? But putting people in a potentially vulnerable situation to prevent that isn't the best plan. Not only that, lazy people will just sack off that idea and dump elsewhere.
Randy MJ Relos
Junk-art-house and junk art gallery to deal with plastics. Every artist in Boracay must volunteer twice a week and serve at the art house by teaching or having sessions on junk-art crafts making. Kids will be taught every weekend how to do it. Their junk-art work will first be displayed on every barangay offices as decorations. Other junk art works will be place in the gallery for junk art with the goal of selling them to tourist and give the profit back to the child who made it. In this way, they will be motivated to produce more. It's hard work but it's a sure solution to minimize garbage and it can be livelihood for children than just get hooked on cellphones and be passive.
It’s just a nugget of idea..
It’s going to be an attraction and income generating while helping solve the garbage problem.
Artstrong Clarion
The problem on this type of trash bins is you will still have to hold and open the cover bin just to throw waste. Apparently by then you catch bacteria, But the good news is it’s possible to rig and make it functional, What would be nice is to put a hole on top that have a round cover that swings to open with a rope that would open and close it...that way problem solved, no holding the cover of the bin.
Jürg Putzi
First 3 bins I see in Boracay, since the closure, all the bins are gone. So in fact first put bins all over and then we can start the conversation about them.
By the way, recycling doesn't work here, the people just put any kind of waste into any bin.
Jenny Ring
Right now it's like it was before the closure. No bins at all. Cebu Pacific sponsored those "pretty" vomit-yellowish colored plastic bins and no one could read in front where to put what cause it just had a confusing colored picture! No one could understand where to put the trash exactly.
And then one day, they were just gone and now there is AGAIN no bin at all. I mean how can you keep an island clean with no trash bins?!!?
The picture shows a bin which would look better on the pathway, the pictures and what's written on there is easy to understand and people will follow.
John Cook
Set up composting stations throughout the island for residents and businesses to dispose of their organic waste. Then LGU can sell bags of nutrient rich soil for gardens.
Jenny Jara
Give some penalties to those who don't bring their own bag while buying from the market. Or another solution is all the biggest resorts and companies can help our local government to provide a machine to recycle the plastic. I've seen those machines in Sairgao. Check out this "Siargao Recycling Art Studio "
Chris Pedraza
Not enough trash cans, and not enough people cleaning the trash from the beach areas, pathways and side streets. That's on top of all the building rubble left all over the place after the demolition, still there after months or years. It's an eyesore.
Educate people on proper waste disposal. But give them the means to do it, or it's a waste of time. Fine those who drop or dump litter. But provide decent garbage collection services and trash bins.
Niño Sacapaño
Garbage in Boracay? Let me ask you this, did we even have great problems with this? I think people forgot we were awarded by the national for handling/managing garbage. Then new admin comes... Caused closure and still re-elected. I don't blame any politician running for such positions. But I blame those people who kept voting them. Sad truth. It's us who can change the future of the island, by choosing the right deserving person. And I'm talking in general problem of the island.
Sharon Zeus Sabalo Norbe
The garbage in Boracay is...oh wait, isn't this a landmine itself?
They had used garbage to fatten their bank accounts? Aren't they? But who?
As long as the municipality will not provide its own machinery to manage this garbage, nothing good will happen. Why can't Boracay buy its own garbage truck? Its own boat to transfer garbage? Its own landfill or MRF in the mainland? I don't know, I just think about this.
Anna Gonzales
The current situation leaves tourists often unable to find a trash can in order to dispose of their waste. Where are they? Residents often have to walk a long way, at 2am, to put out their household garbage, as there are not sufficient collection points, particularly near to the beach front. This encourages dumping.
It should not be the responsibility of beach front hotels and restaurants to collect and segregate waste from the thousands of tourists on White Beach, but of the LGU, as it is pretty much everywhere else. Surely a simple system of installing and emptying trash cans (using push carts at the beach) would not be too hard to implement?