Local Philippine Government Launches Trash-For-Rice Program

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ByHui Yin

The local government of the Philippines’ Muntinlupa City has launched a trash-for-rice program (colloquially known as Bigas sa Basura).

The trash-for-rice program was started to encourage residents to segregate recyclable materials from their waste and exchange them for rice. The move was also part of the city’s Gender and Development (GAD) program to “empower women to earn by getting kilos of rice,” calling them Women Eco Warriors.

“[The program]’s aim is to gather household waste. We encourage women and mothers to segregate waste and bring it to the Environment Sanitation Center in exchange for rice,” said the city’s information center in a statement.

Under the program, 2 kilos of residual waste such as plastic bottles, candy wrappers, sachets, packaging from deliveries, and other plastics — which must be cleaned and dried before trading them in — can be exchanged for 1 kilo of rice at Sucat People’s Park.

Hui Yin moved from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 to the USA 🇺🇸 when she was just 8 years old. Now in her late 20's she enjoys writing and taking long walks in the park to burn off the copious amounts of rice she eats for dinner.