August 30, 2017

Engr. Erwin B. Daculan

Faculty, DEEE
School of Engineering
University of San Carlos

Dear Engr. Daculan,

A pleasant day to you sir!

I was somewhat glad with what I know last meeting about the budget for the in-campus and out-
campus activities. I never expected that it is possible to ask funding to the community extension
service office with that amount of money. Perhaps the activities that were going to do is for the
people and also us, students, to be fully aware that there are ways to minimize our trashes not by
throwing it directly to the trash bins, but by converting it to something useful. For all I know, few
people has the nerve to do this kind of things because majority of us nowadays dont care about
the environments condition. It has been taken for granted because we thought that the little things
we do everyday has minimal impact on our environment.
Takakura composting for instance is a good way to reduce our landfills of trashes. It may be
tedious and hassle in making one, in fact the odor is really not acceptable particularly the mixture,
but it is a very nice way to decompose our garbage. The downside of composting is that it could
only decompose substance that are biodegradable like food leftovers. My experience in takakura
composting was very memorable. It was my first time to make a takakura compost and honestly
I was very tired after we finished mixing the liquid thing with the rice husk and bran. We were also
hesitant that the compost will not succeed but nevertheless after seven days of turning the heap
thoroughly, it finally produces white particles, a clear sign that natural microorganisms are present
in the compost. On the other hand, briquetting is also another way to convert our trash from
something useful. In this manner, we use scratch papers, newspapers, and any other unused
papers to substitute charcoals which are widely used in grilling our steak. Because the demand
grows exponentially, people has to think of other way to substitute the use of charcoal. Briquetting
can be done first by making an improvised presser machine that will compress the shredded wet
paper, forming a shape depending on the container. Second, the compressed paper should be
left for days to dry out. Finally the paper will harden and a charcoal substitute is produced. Ready
for the steak that has also been frozen for several days in our fridge to be served on our dining
table.
There are a lot of ways to reduce our garbage. One is to create a compost and another is by
making a briquette. It only depend on us whether we act and do something or just observe and
do nothing.

Respectfully yours,

Degres F. Paloma
BSECE-5