teens find ways to deal with waste
Soraya Facudo, head teacher of the Cordillera Regional Science High School in Barangay Wangal here, said Mayor Tomas Galwan asked the children to send him copies of their studies on Solution to urban waste, which were also entries to the 4th National Science Mathematics Congress held recently in Olongapo City.
By Vincent Cabreza - Northern Luzon Bureau
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET – Fifteen-year-old science students of this town have come up with new ways to deal with wastes, and the local government has taken notice.
Kherrylo Baludda and Beverlyn Backian stumbled on bacteria that consume plastic bags and investigated how these could be used to clean up their neighborhood.
Jordan Luther Basawil tinkered with milk cans to discover how to produce liquid fuel from trash, while Marriane Walsien and Ronnel Christian Gulmayo built a biogas digester using their piggery’s waste.
Irish Aquisan focused on a slightly off-grid problem and discovered a cheap source for chemicals that schools could use for laboratory lessons.
Two of these gadgets are now being used in their villages and could easily be replicated.
Solution to urban waste
Soraya Facudo, head teacher of the Cordillera Regional Science High School in Barangay Wangal here, said Mayor Tomas Galwan asked the children to send him copies of their studies, which were also entries to the 4th National Science Mathematics Congress held recently in Olongapo City.
Basawil, of Besao, Mt. Province, said a constant barrage of news broadcasts about neighboring Baguio City’s garbage crisis had convinced him to find a solution to urban wastes.
Garbage, indeed, has come to this vegetable trading town. It has become cosmopolitan in both population and lifestyle, with an increase in migrants from Manila and Central Luzon. It has hosted an expanded business district along the Halsema Highway, the main road to interior Cordillera.
Some of these businesses used to operate in Baguio. But as early as 2001, the local government had been vigilant about the dangers of urban decay now plaguing the city.
Gov. Nestor Fongwan had initiated the construction of a sanitary landfill for the town when he was mayor to address La Trinidad’s growth.
The town also enforced a zoning ordinance that prevents organic fertilizer dealers from setting up warehouses and processing plants.
Last week, Peter Fianza, Baguio administrator, had explored a possible tieup with the La Trinidad government for the city’s trash now that it has shut down its only dump.
Basawil said he paid attention to reports on Baguio’s garbage woes and to the lectures of Fongwan on the value of recycling. His study on waste disposal was a product of these lectures.
Reliance on LPG
Using recycled materials, such as milk cans, a washed mayonnaise receptacle and old pipes, Basawil and his father Emilio constructed a burning chamber that condenses and distills the methane emitted by burned solid waste.
Basawil said he discovered that burning and distilling 3 kilograms of solid garbage for 10 minutes earned him 11.4 milliliters of fuel.
“It is not combustible fuel,” he said. A full can of this waste byproduct could eventually reduce a family’s reliance on liquefied petroleum gas or firewood.
Most of the teenagers approached science as medium to solve economic issues that their households have had to confront, said Ethielyn Taqued, their science teacher.
Baludda and Backian borrowed samples of bacteria from the local office of the Department of Science and Technology and discovered that a substantial volume of bacteria consumes 60 percent of a plastic strip.
They said their study inspired them to build a neighborhood community pit to be filled with a cultivated volume of bacteria so the residents could have a final “burial ground” for unrecycled plastic bags.
Biogas processor
Walsien and Gumayo fused together used plastic pipes so they could feed hog waste to a “digester,” an improvised biogas processor, which fuels the stove that cooks the hogs’ daily meals.
Their only frustration? They have yet to find a fancier way to call their high density polyethylene digester.
Aquisan tested the mulberry tree in her yard and discovered that its juice extract could replace iodine and other chemicals used to help students identify plant cells during laboratory class.
Importing these chemicals has been costing the school too much, she said.
By Vincent Cabreza - Northern Luzon Bureau
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET – Fifteen-year-old science students of this town have come up with new ways to deal with wastes, and the local government has taken notice.
Kherrylo Baludda and Beverlyn Backian stumbled on bacteria that consume plastic bags and investigated how these could be used to clean up their neighborhood.
Jordan Luther Basawil tinkered with milk cans to discover how to produce liquid fuel from trash, while Marriane Walsien and Ronnel Christian Gulmayo built a biogas digester using their piggery’s waste.
Irish Aquisan focused on a slightly off-grid problem and discovered a cheap source for chemicals that schools could use for laboratory lessons.
Two of these gadgets are now being used in their villages and could easily be replicated.
Solution to urban waste
Soraya Facudo, head teacher of the Cordillera Regional Science High School in Barangay Wangal here, said Mayor Tomas Galwan asked the children to send him copies of their studies, which were also entries to the 4th National Science Mathematics Congress held recently in Olongapo City.
Basawil, of Besao, Mt. Province, said a constant barrage of news broadcasts about neighboring Baguio City’s garbage crisis had convinced him to find a solution to urban wastes.
Garbage, indeed, has come to this vegetable trading town. It has become cosmopolitan in both population and lifestyle, with an increase in migrants from Manila and Central Luzon. It has hosted an expanded business district along the Halsema Highway, the main road to interior Cordillera.
Some of these businesses used to operate in Baguio. But as early as 2001, the local government had been vigilant about the dangers of urban decay now plaguing the city.
Gov. Nestor Fongwan had initiated the construction of a sanitary landfill for the town when he was mayor to address La Trinidad’s growth.
The town also enforced a zoning ordinance that prevents organic fertilizer dealers from setting up warehouses and processing plants.
Last week, Peter Fianza, Baguio administrator, had explored a possible tieup with the La Trinidad government for the city’s trash now that it has shut down its only dump.
Basawil said he paid attention to reports on Baguio’s garbage woes and to the lectures of Fongwan on the value of recycling. His study on waste disposal was a product of these lectures.
Reliance on LPG
Using recycled materials, such as milk cans, a washed mayonnaise receptacle and old pipes, Basawil and his father Emilio constructed a burning chamber that condenses and distills the methane emitted by burned solid waste.
Basawil said he discovered that burning and distilling 3 kilograms of solid garbage for 10 minutes earned him 11.4 milliliters of fuel.
“It is not combustible fuel,” he said. A full can of this waste byproduct could eventually reduce a family’s reliance on liquefied petroleum gas or firewood.
Most of the teenagers approached science as medium to solve economic issues that their households have had to confront, said Ethielyn Taqued, their science teacher.
Baludda and Backian borrowed samples of bacteria from the local office of the Department of Science and Technology and discovered that a substantial volume of bacteria consumes 60 percent of a plastic strip.
They said their study inspired them to build a neighborhood community pit to be filled with a cultivated volume of bacteria so the residents could have a final “burial ground” for unrecycled plastic bags.
Biogas processor
Walsien and Gumayo fused together used plastic pipes so they could feed hog waste to a “digester,” an improvised biogas processor, which fuels the stove that cooks the hogs’ daily meals.
Their only frustration? They have yet to find a fancier way to call their high density polyethylene digester.
Aquisan tested the mulberry tree in her yard and discovered that its juice extract could replace iodine and other chemicals used to help students identify plant cells during laboratory class.
Importing these chemicals has been costing the school too much, she said.
Labels: Olongapo City, urban waste
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