Marikina’s Eco Savers Program
I live in one of the cleanest cities in the Philippines, Marikina City. Not only that the local government is strict in implementing proper garbage segregation and disposable but it also works hand-in-hand with the local public schools in its Eco-Savers Program. This program empowers thousands of families, including the schoolchildren, in the city to convert their trash into grocery items or school supplies just by turning over their recyclables to the government.
Ready for sorting by the Sorting Hat before heading off to the campus.
In my daughter’s school, recyclables are collected at the school campus every Wednesday. Each student is given an Eco-Savers passbook where their trash “deposits” are recorded. Paper, tin, plastics, glass, and alloy are some of the scraps accepted in the program. Instead of throwing them away, families sort them properly and submit them for the Eco-Savers program. The scraps are weighed and their calculated monetary values are recorded in the passbook. At the end of the school year, participants of the program get to exchange their accumulated deposits with either grocery items or school supplies of their own choices. They get to “shop” at the Eco-Savers Mobile Store using their trash credits.
This program started in 2004 by Marikina’s Waste Management Office, in coordination with the Department of Education.
The last time, I came home with a bag of canned goods and a few notebooks out of my trash deposits. I can’t wait to participate again starting next month. This not only lessens our household expenses but it also teaches families, including our young ones, to segregate trash properly and be conscious of the environment.
Posted in 
Tags: 
July 15th, 2009 2:36 pm
Wow this is a really good program. I wish all the cities would participate.
July 16th, 2009 12:55 am
oh, it is a very good program Rochelle, wonder if the other cities can follow.
July 16th, 2009 8:14 am
Dropping some bread crumbs here..
July 16th, 2009 11:41 am
Am from Marikina (San Roque) too madam , Good to know that there’s fellow Marikinanians here.. Stay blogging and write more =), and yes.. I do save all the recycables fr my nephews ecosaver’s passbook. I even go with him on mondays to bring all the recycables in his school grounds.