Puerto Princesa carries us through its forests, rivers, coasts, seas, biodiversity, clean air, and landscapes, the natural systems that shape our economy, livelihoods, and everyday life. But as our waste generation grows, the city can only carry so much. Waste does not disappear when it leaves our hands; it only changes address, sometimes to a landfill, a drainage canal, the sea, or back to the communities that live with its consequences.
That thought stayed with me while working for almost a year as strategic outreach specialist for the European Union–Philippines Green Economy Partnership implementation in Puerto Princesa City, helping translate circular economy (CE) into messages, stories, and materials that local audiences could understand and practice.
The partnership is funded by the EU in the Philippines as part of the EU’s Global Gateway investment strategy, and is implemented by UNDP Philippines in tandem with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It supports local governments and communities in shifting to a more inclusive CE by reducing plastic and organic waste, creating green jobs, and building local systems that can better withstand climate risks.
At first, “CE” can sound like another development buzzword. But for a city like ours, it is not abstract. It lives in how households segregate waste, schools teach children, tourism establishments reduce disposables, local innovators transform discarded materials, government offices coordinate, and communities protect the city many of us proudly call home.
This engagement taught me that a CE will only work in Puerto Princesa if it is communicated clearly, grounded in local realities, supported by working systems, and sustained by local leadership. Looking back, as my contract ends, I carry three major takeaways from this engagement.
First, CE is not foreign to us; it is already present in many local habits, but it needs stronger systems to grow.
During the consultations, it became clear to me that many participants already understood CE even if they did not call it by that name. In many ways, Puerto Princesa is already “Naturally Circular”: people spoke of reusing containers, segregating recyclables, composting food waste, repairing items, avoiding unnecessary plastics, selling recoverable materials, and making do with what they have. These may look like small acts, but they are the starting points of circularity.
Working with Eco Kolek, a local CE partner that turns discarded materials into useful products, helped me see how waste recovery can support creativity, income, dignity, and local enterprise.
But these efforts cannot survive on goodwill alone. They need supportive policies, reliable collection systems, functioning material recovery facilities, partnerships with buyers and recyclers, and sustained public communication. Otherwise, people will ask a valid question: “Why should we segregate if the system does not support it?” That is why the outreach plan had to go beyond awareness: it had to connect behavior change with systems change.
Second, good communication begins with listening.
This is not a new lesson to me. Around 15 years ago, during my BA Mass Communication days at Palawan State University, we were taught that communication is never just about sending messages. It is about understanding people—their context, language, values, fears, hopes, and ways of making meaning. In this engagement, that lesson became even more real.
One of the most meaningful parts of this work was participating in focus group discussions and workshops with different stakeholders: city offices under the Local CE Action Team (LCEAT), tourism micro, small, and medium enterprises, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, waste workers, Indigenous Peoples, and university educators.
These conversations reminded me that communication materials should not be produced from an office desk alone. As a communicator, I am used to shaping messages. But this work reminded me that before messages can be shaped, people must first be heard.
For example, if we want families to practice waste segregation, we need to understand what they already know, what confuses them, what motivates them, and what prevents them from doing it consistently. If we want tourism establishments to adopt circular practices, we need to understand the realities of running a business. If we want informal waste workers to be part of the transition, we need to recognize their existing role in recovering materials and not treat them as invisible.
As the consultations progressed, I began to see the materials differently. The outreach plan was no longer just a document. The “Naturally Circular” branding guidelines were no longer just a set of colors, fonts, and design rules. The logo was no longer just a visual mark. The storybook, audiovisual production, and brochure were no longer just outreach products.
Each had to carry the voices, concerns, and hopes of the people we listened to.
The storybook had to speak to children through wonder and values. The audiovisual script had to make the concept feel close to Puerto Princesa’s realities. The brochure had to be clear, practical, and consistent with the campaign identity. Even the logo and visual system had to do more than look good; they had to help people remember the campaign and associate it with action.
These outputs deepened my understanding of environmental communication. The work is not only about explaining forests, seas, wildlife, waste, or climate risks. It is also about building shared language among people from different offices, sectors, and life experiences. Meaningful environmental work is often built through patient coordination: listening carefully, revising openly, respecting institutional processes, and translating big ideas into stories people can act on.
Third, local leadership can turn an externally funded project into a lasting movement.
The EU–PH Green Economy Partnership provided valuable technical guidance, structure, and momentum. But no external project can substitute for local ownership, which I saw in the dedication of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, the participation of different city offices, and the willingness of partners to review, improve, and roll out the outputs. That ownership must be protected and sustained.
For Puerto Princesa, sustaining this work is not just about continuing a donor-supported project. It is about investing in the city’s future. CE can help reduce waste, ease pressure on landfills, support green jobs, strengthen local enterprises, protect public health and tourism assets, and teach children a more responsible way of living with nature.
This is why I hope the City Government of Puerto Princesa will continue funding and institutionalizing this work next year. The LCEAT should be supported as a long-term coordinating body. The outreach plan and materials should be tested, improved, and adapted for different audiences. They should support inter-barangay learning, household engagement, school partnerships, and outreach to markets, tourism establishments, and public offices.
More importantly, a city that depends on nature must invest in protecting it with the same seriousness it gives to built infrastructure. Puerto Princesa’s future rests not only on roads and buildings, but also on its natural infrastructure: forests, rivers, coasts, seas, biodiversity, clean air, and scenic landscapes. These are the foundations of its economy and the ecosystem services that sustain the health, safety, livelihoods, and well-being of its people.
Funding the circular transition should not be treated as an optional cost; it is an investment in the ecological assets that keep Puerto Princesa’s economy and communities alive. The city government can also explore alternative sources of green financing, including private partnerships and other local or global funding opportunities that protect nature while bringing practical economic benefits back to communities and local enterprises.
The city should also continue supporting local circular innovations that show how waste can be avoided, reduced, reused, repaired, recovered, or transformed into value, especially when these benefit waste workers, persons deprived of liberty, other marginalized groups, and communities linked to tourism and agriculture.
But the responsibility does not belong to government alone. The public has a role, too. We support CE when we segregate properly, avoid unnecessary single-use plastics, bring reusable containers, compost when possible, repair instead of replace, support local green enterprises, and teach children that waste does not disappear simply because it leaves our hands.
Puerto Princesa has long been known for environmental pride, and it has long carried us through its natural beauty, resources, livelihoods, and sense of place. But pride must now become practice. The city that carries us also needs to be carried by our choices, policies, investments, and everyday habits.
CE asks us to rethink what we throw away. In the process, it also asks us to rethink how we govern, consume, do business, teach, and care for the city that carries us.
