THE EFFECTS OF PROPER WASTE SEGREGATION AND DISPOSAL OF THE 4TH YEAR STUDENTS IN GERONIMA CABRERA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

THE EFFECTS OF PROPER WASTE SEGREGATION AND DISPOSAL OF THE 4TH YEAR STUDENTS IN GERONIMA CABRERA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

I. INTRODUCTION Recent scientific studies reveal that human activities have contributed significantly to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that causes climate change. One of these human activities is the irresponsible disposal of garbage. Philippines is looming with garbage problems despite the passage of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or the Republic Act (RA) 9003.
Based on the data from the National Solid Waste Commission last first quarter of 2007, there are 677 open dumpsites, 343 controlled dumps, and 21 landfills in the country. An additional 307 dump sites are subject for closure or rehabilitation plans but without definite schedules for enforcement. About 215 additional landfills are being proposed to be set up nationwide. But according to studies, landfills and open dumpsites contributed 34 percent of human-related methane emissions to the atmosphere which has more heat-trapping power than carbon dioxide. Thus, these landfills and open dumps are illegal under RA 9003. Another government program used in the reduction of waste is by using incinerators that have significantly higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than a coal-fired power when all of the carbon coming out of an incinerator stack is measured. These emissions are banned by the country’s Clean Air Act. Failure to act on garbage contributes to the death of at least two persons every minute due to complications from environmental management program. Mismanagement of waste has serious environmental consequences: ground and surface water contamination, local flooding, air pollution, exposure to toxins and spread of disease. Proper waste segregation and disposal is more effective when it started in each individual in the school, house, offices, and community.

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH
The main objective of the research is to measure the effectivity of an alternative waste management which is the proper waste segregation and disposal of 4th year students in Geronima Cabrera National High School.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The research sought to answer the following questions:
1. How much garbage does the 4th year students of GCNHS produce within one week?
2. When applying the proper waste segregation and disposal in the 4th year students of GCNHS, how much garbage thrown in the dumpsite within one week?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
The research shows the importance of proper waste segregation and disposal in minimizing the garbage thrown in the dumpsites that contributed significantly in air and water pollution.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH
The research covers only the amount of waste thrown by the 4th year students of Geronima Cabrera National High School within one week in the school respectively and the result of waste production when applying the proper waste segregation and disposal for one week. In addition, the research also shows the ways

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Generating waste is almost unavoidable in today's world. Properly segregating and disposing of your waste not only reduces the amount of toxins that enter the atmosphere, you may even save someone's life. Not all wastes are equal and some are so dangerous that they fall into a category all their own: hazardous waste. You can easily reduce all types of waste with changes in your habits, and even save some money in the process. Garbage is a never ending cycle. Every day each household produces a significant amount of trash. The more we consume the more garbage we incur. Garbage disposal has been a monumental problem ever since. Properly disposing of waste is not just a personal responsibility; some kinds of waste, usually hazardous, must be properly disposed of according to law set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency. Toxic waste can seep into the ground and contaminate our water supplies, and sometimes cause widespread disease. Even non-toxic waste causes pollution that contributes to global warming and a general negative impact on the public health. EPA studies suggest that global warming could make earth almost inhospitable by the end of the century.

III. METHODOLOGY The research was done within two weeks. First week, the researcher gathered the garbage produced by the four sections of 4th year students of GCNHS for five days and measured its amount by using twenty-five sacks. In the following week, the researcher gathered the garbage produced by the same group of students within one week but by this time the waste are segregated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. The biodegradable wastes are place in the compost pit and the non-biodegradable is properly segregated into plastic wrappers and plastic bottles. The plastic wrappers are recycled into pillows and transformed into some decoration.

IV. FINDINGS For the first week, segregation and disposal of waste is not applied. The amount of trash collected in the 4th year students of GCNHS within one week is shown in the table below.

The data in table 1 and in figure 1 are the total amount of garbage generated within one week that was disposed in the municipal dumpsite.

Table 2 shows the data of the amount of waste in which proper waste segregation and disposal is applied within one week.

The total amount of biodegradables is placed in the compost pit while the non-biodegradables are being segregated into its classifications such as plastic bottles, plastic wrappers and cellophanes. Some non-biodegradables are being recycled like plastic wrappers and plastic bottles. The remaining non-biodegradables which cannot be recycled are being thrown away in the dumpsite.

Day (March 11-15, 2013)
Amount of Garbage disposed (measured using empty 25 kg. sack)
Monday
0.5
Tuesday
1
Wednesday
0.75
Thursday
0.75
Friday
0.5
Total
3.5
Table 3 Table 3 shows the amount of garbage disposed per day. Using the method of proper waste segregation and disposal, the total amount of waste disposed in a week decreased to 24.14% of the total amount and saved up to 75.86% of garbage that are recycled instead of throwing away.

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the comparison of the data or garbage disposed per week. Without using the proper waste segregation and disposal all garbage generated on a certain week was disposed. Using proper waste segregation and disposal method only 24.14 percent of the total waste generated was disposed

V. CONCLUSION

We can’t deny the fact that one of the big problems in every country is the waste management. Mismanagement of the garbage will cause serious illness that harms the health of human being.
The research effectively indicates that the total amount of waste generated in the schools, communities, cities and throughout the country can be reduce by using the proper waste segregation and disposal.

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Russell Huebsch, 1999. Proper Waste Segregation & Disposal (On line). Available at: http://www.ehow.com/way_5606412_proper-waste-segregation-disposal.html. Retrieved on March 15, 2013.
Russell Huebsch, 1999. Importance of Proper Waste Disposal (On line). Available at: http://www.ehow.com/about_5529186_importance-proper-waste-disposal.html. Retrieved on March 15, 2013.
Ma. Rachel Roxas Yapchiongco, 2012. Proper garbage disposal, make it a habit! (On line). Available at: http://www.thepoc.net/thepoc-features/what-on-earth/what-on-earth-features/16699-proper-garbage-disposal-make-it-a-habit.html. Retrieved on March 14, 2013. http://imagineechoprojectswaste.blogspot.com/. Retrieved on March 12, 2013 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_causes_and_effect_of_waste_management. Retrieved on March 12, 2013