Proposals for a greener island

My name is Lara Krüger and I am 16 years old. I visited Malta and Gozo some weeks ago and I realised that there is still a lot to do in Malta and Gozo concerning environmental protection, the disposal of waste, the relationship between man and the environment and the sustainability of environmental protection.

While visiting Malta and Gozo I realised that many vacant land cells are misused as refuse dumps. So I was asking myself a lot of questions. For example: How are children educated concerning environmental protection issues? Are people informed sufficiently enough concerning environmental protection and the consequences of environmental pollution?

Moreover, I noticed that in about a third of the cars driving around there was only one person. Perhaps you should think about electric cars for Malta and Gozo. And you could pay an environmental protection reward of €5,000 for every car (using fuel) that is changed for an electric one. This would make the idea of an electric car attractive for a person with an average income. Moreover, this measure would have a certain impact on the environmental image of Malta.

In Germany we regularly organise so-called Clean Away The Garbage days. In most cases the local communities organise these action days. Often schools, nursery schools, other social organisations and interested citizens take part in those measures. In some towns they hold a competition and the person gathering most of the garbage gets a reward. I think that such a measure could be realised in Malta too.

In my opinion environmental protection begins where it is most simple. It begins at home with separating glass, paper and plastics, using separate containers for organic refusal and using the waste buckets in public places as in front of churches, for example.

I hope and I wish that my proposals will be thought about and people would talk to their environmental protection organisation to see what measures to take.

These ideas are certainly not complete. Perhaps the Maltese could complete them and add their own ideas and commitment to the issue.

I wish the Maltese good luck in putting these ideas into practice and in saving your environment!