Twenty-six Maltese schools have participated in an international campaign against litter, the best entries of which will be awarded in a ceremony to be held in October, pandemic permitting.

Shift to Glass by Naomi Farrugia, St Thomas More College Alternative Learning Programme (ALP), Paola

A total of 237 projects – 72 articles, 149 photos and 16 videos were submitted by 17 secondary and nine primary schools for the Wrigley Litter Less Campaign, which forms part of the international programme Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE), run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and represented locally by Nature Trust – FEE Malta.

Participants were invited to focus on any litter-related issues and conduct a campaign to bring about change. Actions varied from the elimination of plastic bags and use of mesh bags, the elimination of single-use plastics, supermarket collaboration to reduce single-use plastic and raising awareness on marine litter.

This year proved to be a particularly challenging one for the YRE programme due to the closure of schools in early March. The deadline for the competition entries was also postponed by two months. The best local projects were selected by the end of June. An international YRE jury will then select the best entries in each category out of all the participating countries in September and the winners will be announced in October.

Shift to Glass by Liam Cremona, St Thomas More College Alternative Learning Programme (ALP), Paola

One of the YRE programme initiatives is  a ‘community action day’, which some schools managed to hold before March.

Among these was St Thomas More College Secondary School, Żejtun, whose article placed first in the 11- to 14-year-old article category. The students conducted a Stop Using Plastic (SUP) campaign and went to the local open market to speak to people and stall owners. They distributed reusable bags to replace plastic ones and raised awareness via posters in most shops in Żejtun. The event was reported on the local news, a video recording of which may be viewed on YouTube.

The Scream by Nigel Tabone, Gozo College Secondary School, Victoria

A total of 237 projects were submitted – 72 articles, 149 photos and 16 videos

Vittoriosa primary held a march in the locality to raise awareness and held a meeting with the mayor.

Have We Become Too Dependent on Plastic to Realise the Situation Is Suffocating? by the Ekoskola committee, St Benedict College Middle School, Kirkop

St Thomas More College, Santa Luċija, held a 30-day eco-challenge and involved the whole community in a clean-up. Our Lady Immaculate School held a whole-day event on reducing litter – and invited personalities and promoters to provide alternatives for plastic. Immaculate Conception School students went out in the streets to distribute mesh bags as replacement to plastic bags.

St Margaret College Secondary School, Verdala, interviewed all Cottonera mayors on litter-less initiatives and is working with all of them to help promote less plastic in the locality.

Similar events planned by other schools are planned once schools reopen in October.

Fighting for Survival... Is the Environment Worth Fighting For? by the Ekoskola committee, St Benedict College Middle School, Kirkop

For the past few months, the YRE programme continued running, mainly online.

FEE International held 15 webinars, with topics varying from outdoor learning to reporting through photography to podcasts. Local schools were invited and participated in most of them, giving Maltese students the opportunity to meet foreign students online and experience online collaboration platforms.

Local online meetings with students were also held. They continued with their reporting work – focusing also on the effects of the pandemic on the local environment. Meetings consisted of online help on reporting, feedback on reporting projects-in-the-making, and guidance meeting for students who were planning their work.

A special category – YREstayshome – was created for students, through which they could report in any way they wanted during the partial lockdown period. A total of 36 entries were submitted for this category. Students got creative by giving tips on how to be sustainable at home and how to stay sustainable once the pandemic is over.

Online presentations for World Environment Day on June 5 and World Oceans Day on June 8 were held on social media. Related projects were collected and uploaded on YouTube to celebrate the events.

All local winners and participants may be viewed on the YRE website: www.yremalta.org. Schools wishing to participate in the YRE and/or Litter Less campaigns in the next scholastic year may e-mail YRE Malta national coordinator Audrey Gauci on audrey.gauci@ilearn.edu.mt or via the YRE Malta website.