Little, worried eco-warriors

Six-year-old Isaac Gatt is worried about the state of the roads in Paola because if children fall off their bicycles they are likely to get a nasty injury.

So, as president of his school's Eco School committee, he took matters into his hands and wrote an e-mail to Resources Minister George Pullicino, asking that something be done to prevent unwanted bruises.

The minister has informed the Year Two student at Paola Primary A that he will be looking into the matter. Now, Isaac and his friends are waiting to see results.

The young president is a firm believer in speaking up as children have an important role to play in saving the environment.

"We must speak up and tell the government what to do with the environment to improve it," he says.

"I also wrote to the Paola mayor to install dog litter bins and (CCTV) cameras. He said he did not have the money to install the cameras but he has the cash for the dustbins... But we don't have them yet," he says with a hint of frustration.

The Eco School programme he forms part of was launched in 1994 by the Foundation for Environmental Education precisely with the aim of empowering students like Isaac to adopt an active role in environmental decision making and action in their school and community.

Isaac explains that the Eco School committee of his school meets to discuss how to improve the environment by, for example, not littering, not picking flowers and cleaning up dog poop.

Committee member Kay Darmanin Farrell couldn't agree more on the latter point which is the theme of her drawing that was pinned up on the school's board.

The five-year-old insists that people should do their bit for the environment and clean up after their dogs.

But Kindergarten student Nathan Julian Cardona stresses that it's not only dog litter that should be cleared.

"When people throw stuff on the floor we go and pick up the rubbish after them," the four-year-old eco-warrior says.

His six-year-old sister, Jessica Maris, and Michela Borg, seven, highlight other ways in which their school helps to save the planet.

They have set up a tank that collects rainwater which is used in the summer to water the plants. They have also installed a composting bin where they throw their fruit's left-overs and are in the process of building a greenhouse in the school playground.

Their school, the Paola Primary, joined the local Eco School programme, represented locally by Nature Trust Malta, last year and was awarded the internationally recognised green flag within a year.

"We wouldn't have managed to get the flag so quickly had it not been for the overwhelming commitment of the children and school staff," school head Josette Cassar says.

Assistant head Etienne Farrell explains that the children were so enthusiastic about joining Eco School that, apart from the committee, the school set up the Kindergarten Committee and the Eco Friends Committee - who work together to improve their world.