DLSU-D’s Grade 12 STEM students Sherard Gilbert Ballon, Dreamdith Therese Dy, Christina Danica Eneirga, Patricia Jeanne Ramos and Jerrika Mikaela Tonio developed a material that can possibly replace plastic drinking straws.
“Most of us students like to drink coffee and milkteas. We observed that we produce a lot of plastic waste from the drinking straws we used in these beverages that we only use for a very short time” Ballon said.
“We used saba peelings because we found out that no research was done on the material but is a common waste. We first scraped off the fibers contained in the peels and turning them into a sort of a bioplastic product with the help of a plasticizer,” added Dy and Ramos.
“However, we need to do some optimization by trial and error until we were able to develop the optimum mixture,” said Eneirga and Tonio.
The Saba Banana (scientific name Musa acuminata x balbisiana) has been a typical main ingredient of Filipino dishes like Turon, Bananacue, “minatamis na saging” and an added element in Nilaga and Puchero. As a usual street food item sold by ambient vendors, waste from the saba peelings contribute greatly to the solid waste disposal problem in the country.
“Their work is a culmination of their almost a year research study that is part of their requirements in DLSU-D senior high school curriculum,” said Marlon Pareja, their research adviser.
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Stand for Truth: Balat ng saging, puwede gawing straw?
"No to plastic" ang tema ng research project na ito ng mga estudyante ng Senior High School sa De La Salle University of Dasmariñas. Ang kanilang straw kasi, gawa sa saba! Silipin 'yan sa video na ito!