PROPOSAL
CHANGE OF WAY’STE
PALLOTTI HIGH SCHOOL
PRINCESS MARGARET DRIVE
PHONE: 224-4886
TEACHER: ATHEN MARIN
TEAM MEMBERS: Zaadia Flores (Team Leader), Kenlisse Simplis, Yesenia Saravia, Maria Barrera,
Brianna Marin, Amber Rivero, Jazdene Gray
PROBLEM: Waste management and changing waste, educating the public to
change
Waste management and disposal is usually inappropriate, and thus appears to be a leading
health threat at a time when Ebola and Chikungunya are threating in our time.
A broad scale waste assessment (audit) should be conducted on imported goods, distributed
goods, and disposal of unused portions.
1. Introduction
The most important fear that bothers Mankind today is the issue of waste management. We have become a
world full of disposables. A few decades ago, disposable things were only known to developed countries.
Today, everything or most of the things used in Belize are disposable or ready-made, this causes waste which in
abundance is an environmental problem. This affects residential, commercial and industrial producers of
garbage in urban and rural areas. Everyone should take or share responsibility for the management of solid
waste because these problems have been created by all.
The thought is that waste collection services should be provided by local government authorities. So, countries
spend lots of time and money to come up with solutions to the problems of environmental destruction and to
improving health services caused by waste which is a problem created by mankind due to his thoughtless acts.
Community involvement has a direct impact on effective Solid Waste Management. Yet, the municipal
authorities have failed to involve the community and educate citizens on the basics of the proper practices of
sorting and storing waste at the household, shop and institution levels.
A study was done on community attitude, perception and willingness towards change in the management of
solid waste. It was carried out, based on socio-economic status, using focus-group discussions and structured
interviews. It was found that in the absence of a capable system to collect waste from its source, citizens are
more likely to illegally throw waste on the streets, vacant lots, highways, drains, and water bodies in the
neighborhood making the surroundings unsanitary. The understanding is that the waste thrown on the streets or
other vicinities would be picked up by the city through street cleaners who otherwise would not have a job.
What was found out was that most often garbage collection is unreliable. What all the stakeholders want, is for
others to take control of the pollution. The Private Sectors’ participation is also important to the success of
Waste Management collection program as they are the ones who most of the time produce the largest volume of
waste. The willingness to pay or not to pay could have direct impact positively or negatively on the reliability
and success of any solid waste collection program.
Behavior can be influenced by a number of causes outside of attitude, including monetary factors, social
influences (what peers and community members are saying and doing), and convenience. Citizens may have
strong opinions about improving their community in their town, but if it means a large increase to their property
taxes, they may vote against any improvements due to the likelihood of monetary loss. Citizens hardly care
about garbage because if it is not picked up, they will find a way to dispose of it on the street, highways, water
ways, open spaces, etc. People feel that it is the duty of the city and the government to collect waste and so they
are not willing to pay. Another reason is that, their income is very low and they feel that their main concern is
survival and not waste collection.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To educate the community about the importance and benefits of recycling
2. To get the community to participate in recycling efforts
3. To get businesses to recycle.
Method/strategies
1. start from early (primary school)
2. harmful effects of disposing/ burning garbage
3. benefits of recycling
4. city council – law (recycling)
5. setting up colour coded bins
6. compost heaps
7. reusable eating utensils
8. educating workers
9. take responsibility
10. donate/raise money - cleaning campaigns
PROPOSED SOLUTION:
In order to accomplish the research’s objectives, information on existing solid waste management practices and
public perception on the effectiveness of the current system were gathered.
A sample size of 12 businesses from the community was selected randomly but the graph in Figure 1 reflects
only 6 of those companies.
Fig One
Toachieve this, collection of data was based on a direct questionnaire administration, personal interviews of the
members of the focus group in order to obtain information on the respondents’ general opinion on attitude and
Fig Two
view on waste handling and management, waste management services, and willingness to pay for such waste
management services. Figure two shows a basic survey done with the first year students being the respondents.
When Sister Clara, our principal, came to Pallotti High School in 2005 she started to recycle plastic bottles but
this is one of the hardest things the children find that they have to do. Since then we have taken out a fairly large
number of soda bottles out of our dump site. Since the start of this new school year we started using regular
plates in the cafeteria and have cut down on garbage disposal nearly 75% compared to the same time last year.
We were using 600 Styrofoam plates and other Styrofoam containers per week. Now the garbage truck comes
only once a week compare to three times weekly before. Dumpster size: 65 inches, width 78 inches, length 95
inches.
Most of the households dispose wastes such as polystyrene, plastics, glass, cans, and food waste into the waste
bin without separation. Nonetheless, the result indicated a positive sign as aluminum, plastic and ‘pet’ bottles
are recycled with acceptable involvement (30%).
Policies need to be in place and suggestions for reducing consumption— which is an important mechanism for
addressing the solid waste problem. These options range from educational programs which encourage
individuals and organizations to voluntary minimize consumer waste, to regulations that mandate waste
reduction behavior, including recycling, resource reduction, and re-use. In deciding among policy options,
planners need to understand those factors that are likely to influence these behaviors in different settings.
Our model will show how our community will look once it is complete with all proposals in place. Each
household will be in line with the policy. All businesses will have changed its infrastructure and daily routine to
adhere to city laws and bylaws. Every school will have education of waste management at par with Family
Issues, Mathematics, English, and Social Issues. The use of resources will be streamlined to be efficient in terms
of disposal after the main usage.
Status of solid waste management in Belize City
The existing solid waste treatment system in the city is not very effective. The city council office was
called requesting data on the collection of garbage between the 1970s and 2000s unfortunately they
don’t have any data. What we would have liked to do with the data was to show this generation how
much they are generating compared to what was generated just a few decades ago.
Garbage is dumped in about two (2) shifting open dump sites and poses environmental problems.
Methodology
What?
Waste Material
Why?
Excessive Waste Generation
Lessen the Health Risk
Improving the outlook for the Future
By:
How?
Reducing the generation of waste.
Getting companies to be responsible for their waste disposal.
Controlling, collecting, processing, and disposing waste in an economical way
consistent with public health protection.
Exploring recycling opportunities.
Educating the community on waste disposal.
Getting the community to participate in proper waste disposal.
THE COMPETITION
The proposed and already existing solution to the problem of waste management is recycling.
Admittedly, there are businesses in the City who already recycle. However, their recycling efforts only
target a small population of people. As well, their recycling efforts do not reduce the amount of waste
being generated. Even the city council pays to pick up garbage and it still remains a problem. Hence,
this is the reason the solution that we are suggesting is definitely more holistic. It will target schools
and homes not only businesses. Also, the solution that we are proposing not only encourages recycling
but it will reduce the amount of garbage generated if the solution is adopted by schools and Belizean
citizens. We are suggesting that schools, homes and even businesses eliminate disposable eating
utensils and replace them with eating utensils that can be washed and reused. Definitely, this will
reduce the amount of Styrofoam and other garbage that is generated and this is not just a prediction.
As already said, the practice of eliminating disposable eating utensils was introduced at Pallotti
High School and the administration noted a significant decrease in the amount of garbage that was
being produced, for example, before introducing reusable eating utensils, the school used 600 – 800
Styrofoam plates per week. All these Styrofoam plates once ended up in the garbage and which made
the amount of garbage which was being generated was very large. The garbage got even less when the
recycling of bottles was introduced at the institution.
RESOURCES NEEDED
#
Tasks
Proposed Cost
1.
Education of Community
$10,000
2.
Survey, interviews and group discussion
$5,000
3.
Analysis of data
$1,000
4.
Implement recycling program and start compost heaps
Each citizen
5.
Craft from recycle products
$1,000 per month
6.
Harvesting methane
$20,000
TIMETABLE
#
Tasks
Who?
7.
Education of Community
Peer educators
and students
8.
Survey, interviews and group discussion
School
9.
Analysis of data
School and municipal
government
10.
Implement recycling program and start
compost heaps
Community
11. Craft from recycle products
Community
12. Harvesting methane
Government consultants
Mnth
s 1-6
Mnth
s
7-12
Mnth
s
13-24
Mnth
s
25-36
CONCERNS INVOLVED
Absence of segregation of waste at source.
Lack of proper industrial set up for waste management, planning and designing in
urban local bodies.
Lack of technically trained man power.
Lack of Community involvement
Government Bodies Responsibilities


Government plays role of regulator
Collect taxes from public
COMMON RECYCABLES
•
Concrete and construction rubble: is put through a crushing machine often
along with asphalt, dirt, bricks and rocks. Smaller pieces of concrete are used as
gravel for new construction project.
•
Biodegradable waste: Kitchen, garden and other green waste can be recycle
into useful material by composting.
MAJOR IMPACTS
Public health
Environment
Economy
Living Conditions
USE OF S.T.E.M.
The technical process behind this project will incorporate a varied level of intelligences. The group has given
thought to an entire spectrum of technologies that may or may not be new. From the onset on education we
will need to instill in the citizenry that modernizing our city will require a change of lifestyle that is doable. We
will all need to buy in to the ideas and become a part of the new programs and in general the new ways of
doing things.
Without Science, technology is definitely not achievable. Our statisticians will use all the numbers gathered to
know to what scale we will implement the programs. Our plan might include the harvesting of methane and
incinerating and the use of these products. Our engineers will be put on the spot to identify ways of putting all
this in place. Our city reality is that we are underpopulated, flood-prone and also in general financially
strapped.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT & COMMUNITY IMPACT
Community attitude towards solid waste management the competition
Citizens need to reevaluate their behavior so that it reflects their attitudes. Social roles and social norms can
have a strong influence on attitudes. Social norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered
appropriate. For example, Belizeans travelling to Chetumal, Mexico, usually dispose of garbage appropriately.
Many however, revert to their attitude once they cross the border back into Belize.
Children, attitudes are often shaped by observed behavior. From a very young age, for example, children
spend a great deal of time observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar
outlooks. So children between the ages of 5-14 years old, are the most influential about solid waste
management received at school and then go on to influenced their household. This indicates that school
campaigns focused on recycling can increase awareness and attitudes toward solid waste management among
children and their parents. Of significance people should have a civic duty to recycle. It should be
recommended that recycling habit needs to be established. Also effective implementation of policy should be
applied.
There should be a call for the people, via public awareness programs, to participate in keeping public areas
around the city clean and disposing of waste properly. Thus, a well-tuned awareness raising campaign will be
launched to build people’s environmental consciousness, to inform them of the impacts of their disorderly
waste disposal practices and to broaden their understanding of their responsibilities.
Researchers have discovered that people are more likely to conduct themselves according to their attitudes
under certain conditions:
When their attitudes are the result of personal experience.
When they expect a favorable outcome.
When the attitudes are repeatedly expressed.
When they stand to win or lose something due to the issue.
In order to minimize the difference between conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to change the
attitude or change your actions. People can also change their attitudes after observing the behavior of others.
Behavioural change can be achieved through awareness-raising campaigns and educational programmes.
CONCLUSION
In our system of open dumping it is favorable to the production and release of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs),
such as methane as was seen from the dump site just outside of the city on the western highway where
when they filled up the old dump site chimneys had to be installed on the land fill so the buildup of these
gasses could escape – maybe a plant should be built to collect and store Methane and GHG and use it to
power the garbage disposal plant that is nearby. As we head into a climate conscious society, it is
imperative that we plan to reduce the potential GHG emissions from waste management.
Our study concludes that most of the conscious citizens feel that the lack of stiff penalty as can be seen
where people throw the garbage under the sign that reads no dumping of garbage penalty $500 yet no none
gets punished for not obeying what the sign says. And non-execution of law is the basic problem for not
having the effective management of waste.
Thus, provision of strong penalties and effective execution of the law will be the major tool to reduce the
problem of solid waste management in Belize.
It could be suggested that a fee be charged as per the electricity or water bill to the households to cover the
costs of collection and education, since the willingness to pay is positively related to the level of income.
Otherwise there will be the possibility of illegal dumping.
Thus overall, awareness, concern, and support for significant action to deal with waste management
appears to be gaining momentum among the public, although there are many obstacles remaining,
including our limited understanding of the current status of waste generation, and a willingness to pay for
disposal, it is hoped that results of this survey will be helpful in conniving the community to move, to a
greater level of public engagement in reduction of waste at the source through campaigns in a scientific
manner to create awareness among the individuals is very much needed for making our city clean. Waste
management for a better tomorrow.
REFERENCES
The Authors would like to thank University Grants Commission, New Delhi for awarding Rajiv Gandhi
National Fellowship to conduct the research work.
1. Asnani P.U., (2006), Solid waste management, In India infrastructure report 2006, New Delhi: 3i
Network, Oxford, pp 160–189.
2. Census of India, 2001 and 2011.
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Bangalore, ASTRA technical report, CST, Bangalore.
4. Environmental Status Report (ESR), (2005), Government of Karnataka.
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generation: A household garbage analysis, Northeastern J. Agric. and Res. Econ, 18(1), pp 46-51.
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Assessment and Change. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, pp. 57-85
A Case Study of a University in Malaysia By Asmawati Desa, Nor Ba’yah Abd Kadir and Fatimah Yusooff