Commended

Plants or Plastic?

submitted by Gzira St.Monica School : Amy Carole Spiteri Staines, Nicole Spiteri Staines  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): Exhibition + Special Assembly, newspaper, other, school media
filed under Campaigning photo Photos
awarded: Commended

If we can mistake plastic for plants, what do sea animals mistake it for? Sea turtles and other marine creatures mistake plastics and other garbage as food (such as jellyfish) and ingest it. This mistake causes blockages within their digestive system and eventual death.



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Help Reduce Plastic Waste!

submitted by Gzira St.Monica School : Martina Zammit  for 11-14
campaign: Litter Less Campaign Entry
dissemination(s): Exhibition + Special Assembly, other, school media
filed under Photos Reporting photo
awarded: Commended

St. Monica School Gzira has joined the Litter Less Campaign, and to help reduce plastic bottles at school, YRE members sold reusable plastic bottles at a very cheap price, which can be filled using the water dispenser at the school. It all started when people noticed that lots of children were bringing new plastic bottles every day, and sometimes not even recycling them properly. Another initiative that the school has taken is to encourage students to bring their lunches in reusable boxes, instead of plastic bags. If every student in the school follows this advice, the school would have saved up to 100,000 plastic bags in a whole scholastic year. This goes to show that small actions can make a huge difference. To help reduce plastic waste, each one of us needs to take action, and find ways how the use of plastic can be reduced in our everyday life.



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Assorted Nurdles

submitted by Gzira St.Monica School : Amy Carole Spiteri Staines, Nicole Spiteri Staines  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): Exhibition + Special Assembly, newspaper, other, school media
filed under Campaigning photo Photos
awarded: Commended

Nurdles are small plastic pellets which are used to make nearly all our plastic products, but many end up washing up on our shores. Marine life is severely threatened by these small pieces of plastic. The creatures that make up the base of the marine food chain, such as krill, are prematurely dying by choking on nurdles.



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Fishing in the sand

submitted by Sacred Heart Senior school : Keira Sciberras  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): other, Social Media
filed under Photos Reporting photo
awarded: Commended



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Do you really need me?

submitted by Gzira St.Monica School : Amy Carole Spiteri Staines, Nicole Spiteri Staines  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): Exhibition + Special Assembly, newspaper, other, school media
filed under Campaigning photo Photos
awarded: Commended

5 minutes of use versus 500 years of decomposition. Is it worth it? We do not really need to use straws, and if we do, we should ask for paper straws, or take our own bamboo or metal straws.



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A new beginning

submitted by Our Lady Immaculate School : Jeanette Micallef  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): website
filed under Photos Reporting photo
awarded: Commended

What if we start afresh and we start to manage our plastic waste responsibly?



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A grey future and Malta?

submitted by Our Lady Immaculate : Nicole Mizzi  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): website
filed under Articles
awarded: Commended

60% of wildlife wiped out by human activity in 44 years.According to the World Wildlife funds ‘Living Planet’ report as at 2018, that involved over 59 scientists from across the globe, 60% of wildlife has been wiped out by human activity in the last 44 years. This equals to more than 4,000 animals with a backbone such as mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. One of the reasons that wildlife is being wiped out is because of the vast and growing consumption of food. Statistics show that 300 mammal species are being eaten into extinction. Food production and uses of natural resources are also the reason why wildlife is being wiped out. America is among the countries using the most natural resources. Palm oil is a great example of how these natural resources are affecting the wildlife. According to WWF, an area of forest that equals to 300 football fields is cleared each hour to make way for palm oil production. This is pushing many species to extinction. Example it is estimated that 1,000 to 5,000 orangutans are killed each year for this development. Palm oil is not only present in foods but also in cosmetics, cleaning and washing detergents, toothpastes and shampoos. Over fishing is another cause of 83% if freshwater species getting wiped out. Pollution and climate change are another reason. A product of this is a decrease of 30% of polar bears. Sea birds are being affected plastic is found in 90% of sea birds. Hunting , a hobby is another reason we are loosing wildlife. Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a non-forest use, for example trees are used for buildings and sold as fuel. This causes animals to loose their habitat. Deforestation is not only destroying wonders of nature but also jeopardizing the lives of people. By destroying nature we are loosing fresh air, water and soil. These are all necessary for people to oceans, rivers, biodiversity and life. Current efforts to protect the nature aren’t keeping up with the speed of man-made destructions. On 12th December 2015, in Paris, an agreement was reached to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. One of their targets was to limit global temperature rises. Recently another report on 5th December 2018 it was reported that in Poland opened an international conference about climate change. Experts warn that there has to be an action taken in the next 2 years, the world is going to suffer from climate change with a large negative impact on population. This meeting in Poland is considered more important than the meeting in Paris. We took the opportunity to ask Vincent Attard the President of Nature Trust what he thinks about this subject. 1) In light of this article what is your opinion of the state of flora and fauna here in Malta? Is there any research with regards to …



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Hela ta’ Ikel

submitted by Our Lady Immaculate : Maria Tonna et al  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): other, school media, You tube
filed under Campaigning video Video Clips
awarded: Commended

The students worked on a video to raise awareness on the importance of mot wasting food.  



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Developing a new service station on arable land with the rusting excavation equipment and security fence contrasting with the green land of the encroached field

submitted by G. F. Abela Junior College : Elise, Muscat  for 15-18
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): newspaper, school media, website
filed under Photos Reporting photo
awarded: Commended

The Mgarr Fuel Station is currently located in a vulnerable area and next to a children’s playground in the centre of the village. Their application to develop 2,406m2 of agricultural land was approved in 2011. Clearing of the land commenced but stopped soon afterwards, leaving a fenced area of part excavated land and rusting excavation equipment. This perfectly demonstrates the controversy of balancing the benefits of moving a fuel station away from a village core but at the cost of the loss of a significant amount of fertile land and placing an eyesore in a rural area.



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Construction Boom in Malta

submitted by Secondary St. Aloysius College : Karl Camilleri  for 11-14
campaign: YRE Entry
dissemination(s): other, This video will be view during an event taking place during 'earth week'. Further details will follow soon.
filed under Reporting video Video Clips
awarded: Commended

It feels like Malta has become a permanent construction site. From local news it is evident that local councils, NGOs are inundated with complaints by residents about the many inconveniences caused by the construction industry. However, these seem to fall on deaf ears and greedy developers are not only abusing our land but also workers. The information used to create this video was taken from information on a few articles recently published on local newspapers and photographs taken by the author himself. The aim of this video is to show the urgent state of the situation on both the environment and society.. This craze to create iconic exclusive buildings and high-rise developments, makes me question its sustainability and what will my country look like in a few years from now.



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