Nuvali: Your power to save tomorrow today
Business Mirror 11/3/2008
More and more people have been moving toward sustainable living as seen from the example of many Laguna residents who took their time to bring in their trash for recycling and proper disposal to the recent Nuvali's Second Recyclables fair.
The fair is a quarterly Saturday activity from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nuvali, an Ayala property on Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, and is part of the township's waste-management program supporting waste segregation at source to promote reduction, reuse, recycling and proper disposal of trash.
"We initially conceptualized this event to help promote the law, Republic Act 9003 [on solid-waste management] on waste minimization, recycling and reduction. Our aim here is for people to be aware and participate in our recycling efforts and so far, we've gotten a lot of support from different sectors," said Adel Ucos, Social Initiatives manager, Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI)
With the active participation of the residents and industrial parks in the area, visitors came in as early as 8 a.m., bringing in their segregated items ready for weighing.
Since its initial run in April, the collection had a 226-percent increase in volume, a good indication of more responsible and conscientious living.
The Recyclables fair was made possible through the assistance of AFI and I-Serve, a nongovernment organization involved in the social development programs of Nuvali. Representatives from the local government offices of Santa Rosa and Calamba also showed their support by encouraging the community to participate in the event.
"As luck would have it, Laguna's Green Program has provided us with a lot of assistance. Here in Santa Rosa, for example, Josephina Ardllas, mother of Santa Rosa Mayor Nazareno, is in charge of the Green Council of Santa Rosa and is actually one of our very first customers," said Nuvali operations manager Stephen Comia.
With a rapidly growing population and lack of adequate disposal sites, solid waste has become a major problem in the country. This often results in open dumps and illegal open burning of waste. Both pose threats to the community and the environment. Through proper waste segregation, recycling and disposal, the amount of actual waste thrown into landfills can be reduced.
"In our experience, people really appreciated learning how to segregate their waste and recycle because they saw how it can contribute to the cleanliness of their surroundings and to the well-being of their families, which is very important to them," explained Jeannette Dumo, executive director of I-Serve.