Despite the pandemic, Senator Cynthia Villar pushed through with the distribution of school chairs made from recycled plastic wastes to different public schools and farm schools across the country.
The latest beneficiaries of the sturdy and durable plastic chairs, given through the Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance), are the indigenous peoples of Barangay Laiban in Tanay, Rizal and the Conrazon Elementary School in Bgy. Bansud, Oriental Mindoro.
The chairs were given to the IP beneficiaries through the help of the 2nd Infantry Division in Camp Capinpin in Tanay.
On the other hand, the turnover of the chairs to the Conrazon Elementary School was facilitated by the 203rd Brigade of the Philippine Army.
Aside from helping the government resolve the problem of the lack of school chairs, Villar said the recycling of plastic wastes also reduces trash.
“Eventually, recycling plays a significant role in the government’s waste management program that would help create a clean and healthy environment,” the senator said.
The chairperson of the Senate environment committee said recycling wastes creates livelihood and sources of income for poor communities.
Women can also work in recycling facilities to help augment the earnings of their husbands, she said.
A staunch environmentalist, Villar said plastics remain the most common trash as proven by their monthly cleanup activity at the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park (formerly Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Eco-Tourism Area).
“We have a lot of plastic waste here in Metro Manila. When disposed improperly, they could clog our drainage systems and eventually cause flooding, which in turn spreads diseases,” she said.
Some 20 kilos of soft plastics such as food wrappers are needed to produce one school chair, which can be fashioned to look like wooden pieces and comes with replaceable parts.
