The aim of the Philippine tour of FLSS

The project started as a concept, a concept that sparked from the brilliant mind of Mr. Christian PW Faust of creating a self-sustaining city that will help in the struggle of our government in alleviating poverty, improving the health condition of our people and in saving the environment.

Walking the streets of Manila, nobody could help but notice poverty and the increasing problem of waste. Homeless people walking and sleeping in the streets picking out plastics, paper and metals from rubbish heaps to be able to make a living. This is only the tip of the iceberg if assuming that this type of phenomenon is only restricted to Metro Manila and in what we see on the television. It is a nationwide problem or even internationally! Because of its commonality we accept it as a way of life for other people until we experience the monsoon season. Heavy rains topped by flooding make us realize that maybe we did something wrong. But after the typhoon season has gone, so is our concern that it might happen again if we did not dispose of our rubbish the right way. Nothing is learned until we experience it firsthand and if we do, it is a question of dedication and a wanting to make a difference.

After extensive data gathering from the DENR, NHA and Gawad Kalinga and finding out the worsening garbage problem of the entire country, FLSS formed a research team to survey strategic areas for probable sites where to build the four main plants and trash depots at the same time to inspect all the dumpsites of the respective cities and municipalities that we are going to pass through. Actual visits to different dumpsites will make clearer our understanding of the situation that our country is experiencing. A plan to have a humbling experience by going down to the grassroots level and interacting with the people directly affected by this growing problem is the primary concern of FLSS to eliminate the notion of hypocrisy of just basing our study on hard numerical figures. Just like the humanitarian goal of FLSS’ project, the approach to be used in the feasibility study of this undertaking will be phenomenological so as not to eliminate the humane aspect of the environment that this project is going to be situated in.