Luzong National High School (LNHS) in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, is converting the community’s plastic wastes into eco-bricks or reusable building blocks to supplement the school’s structures and build various items.
Discarded plastic wrappers and cellophane are now being recycled to produce the eco tile bricks collaboratively used by students’ parents and LNHS personnel to beautify the school in their spare time.
The school’s green initiative started after LNHS won a cash prize in a contest sponsored by the North Luzon Renewable Corporation (NLREC) which is the owner of a wind farm in Caparispisan, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte and leads the province’s sustainable projects.
“We came up with the eco tile bricks during the contest of North Luzon Renewable Corporation (NLREC) on Solid Waste Management for elementary and secondary levels. The cash prize of 10,000 pesos was used as seed money for materials with the guidance of Mr. Raymond Sesuca, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of NLREC,” Thelma R. Sacsac, LNHS Master Teacher II said in an interview with Good News Pilipinas on November 15, 2020.
The project was proposed by Sacsac with the support of her principal, Dr. Gladys A. Acoba. According to Sacsac, LNHS’ eco tiles are also sold to locals for 80-100 pesos per eco brick measuring 15 x 15 inches to encourage more citizens to adopt sustainable practices.
“These eco tile bricks can be used for gardens, walkways, patio, driveways and pool decks,” Sacsac added.
LNHS’ eco-friendly project of turning high-density plastic wrapper wastes into stone bricks or pavers is in support of Barangay Baduang’s Solid Waste Management Program and the local municipality’s commitment to reuse and recycle its non-biodegradable materials.
Aside from the eco-bricks, LNHS boasts many other green initiatives including “Gulayan sa Paaralan” or the planting of vegetable produce in the gardens, the use of drinking tumblers made from bamboo in canteens which also serve meals on banana leaves, and “eco bags” crafted out of plastic tarpaulins, among others.
Luzong National High School is educating the youth about taking care of the environment and was one of the winners of the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) contest for “Most Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools” in 2017. The school is also a national Meralco Leadership Awardee and has been winning many other citations for its environmentally sustainable practices since 2016.
Eco-bricks made from plastics are stronger than traditional cement hollow blocks and have been used to build structures in the Philippines to alleviate landfills and bolster the zero-waste initiative.
Another national high school in Quezon had initiated the serving of hot meals on banana leaves as part of its environmental action.
A quarantine facility, partly made of eco-bricks and upcycled plastic bottles, is being built by the town’s folk of Saint Bernard in Southern Leyte while Filipino visual artist Ivan “Bilog” Bilugan is creating his version of the combination Tiny House and Ecobricks environmentally-friendly home in Cavite.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to Luzong National High School for converting community plastic wastes into eco-bricks!
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