Palau News Letter Vol.5] Promotion of Separate Discharge System in Babeldaob Island, Palau (JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project)

　We would like to provide you with an update on the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project "Promotion of Separate Discharge System in Babeldaob Island, Palau" which is being implemented in Palau.

　In March 2024, in two locations in the provinces of Aymerique and Gappan on the island of Babeldaob, we introduced the "Quiero" to local residents under the theme "Reduce the amount of food waste".

What is a "chiello"?

　This is an environmentally friendly, non-electric food waste disposal system that returns food waste to the soil. By filling the roofed, bottomless box with soil or other base material and burying food scraps, microorganisms in the soil decompose the food scraps. The large capacity and adequate ventilation help to speed up the decomposition process, thereby reducing odors and the generation of insects. The food scraps are decomposed in the "Quiero" and returned to the soil, but the soil mysteriously does not increase.
　This project has already been used in two elementary schools in Palau to process food waste containing cooking residues from school lunches. In Palau, a country of everlasting summer, microorganisms are very active, and the two schools seem to be able to process food waste smoothly.

Eymery Creek Elementary School (starts July 2023)	Glassmao Elementary School (starting December 2023)

Introduce residents to the "quiero".

　Ms. Noriko Fukushima of Next Step Kenkyukai, the technical advisor for this project, introduced the features and usage of "Kiello. The main attraction of the "Quiero" is its ability to process food waste, and when she introduced an example in Japan where the soil is gradually fertilized and turned into homemade fertilizer, residents responded, "We are currently using food waste for biogas power generation, but I want to try the "Quiero" as well! Where is the best place to plant vegetables in the fertile soil?" What is the difference between a 'quiero' and digging a hole in the ground and putting food scraps in it?" These were some of the questions that were of great interest to the Palauan residents.

Residents' Meeting in the State of Eymerik	Residents' Meeting in Gappan Province

Presentation by Ms. Noriko Fukushima

Noriko Fukushima Technical Advisor (Vice President, Next Step Research Association)

　While working as a tidying up coach, he also became interested in reducing "garbage" as visualized by tidying up, and is now making efforts to promote "Quiero" and activities to reduce garbage under the theme of "thinking about environmental and social issues from the perspective of daily life. His motto is "less but better.

Please look forward to the next issue of Palau News!