The best local entries in each category of the Young Reporters for the Environment programme have been selected and forwarded to the Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark where they will be competing with entries submitted from 28 countries.
The best international winners will be announced next Friday, World Environment Day.
During the programme, students investigated a topic related to sustainable development and reported their findings by means of photos, a video or an article.
The programme is run locally by Nature Trust Malta and is supported by Wasteserv, Catch the Drop campaign and the Education Ministry.
www.yremalta.org
Photo, 15-18 year category
If I could reach the other side
Carmen Galea, St Thomas More College Secondary School, Tarxien.
I need to reach the other side; my kids need food. On the other side, I can find something to eat but I need to cross a dangerous road. I am running as fast as I can but suddenly something hit me. Everything is getting darker… my poor children!
Please call Nature Trust Malta Wildlife Rescue Team on 9999 9505 to rescue my children.
I also want to appeal to all humans out there. Protect my children – place more hedgehog crossing road signs, use fewer pesticides, dump less litter or adopt a hedgehog by sending an e-mail to adoptahedgehogmalta@gmail.com.
With your help my little children can live longer and may finally cross to the other side.
Article, 11-14 year category
The ugly face of Mount Magħtab
Matthew Cassar, St Aloysius’ College, Birkirkara
I monitored the green/grey bag waste collection around my block over a period of three months, and I used the outcome to question the local council, Wasteserv and Greenpak about the effectiveness of recycling.
Article, 15-18 year category
Coffee for equality
Franklyn Baldacchino, Jacopo Mentosa, Ryan Fava and Emerson Vella, St Margaret College, Boys’ Secondary School, Verdala, Cospicua.
As 2015 was chosen by the EU Commission as the Year for Development, we geography option students prepared an action plan for the year.
We focused on the issue of waste produced by coffee machines, and the need to promote fair trade coffee to lessen the inequality that exists between farmers in less economically developed countries and those in more economically developed countries. We did so by sending a series of e-mails to key people at school, to the owner of the company hiring the coffee vending machine at school and to EU officials working at Meusac, the European Commission Representation in Malta and the European Parliament Information Office in Malta.
We hope that through our project more people will start drinking fair trade coffee for equality.
Photo, 11-14 year category
Aren’t all citizens conscious and responsible of what they do?
Enya Abela, St Thomas More College Secondary School, Santa Luċia.
This photo shows that some people in Żejtun are careless and ignore a sign ‘Jekk jogħgbok tarmix hawn’ (please do not throw rubbish here). They are not looking after the environment and are so careless that a street in front of a playground is full of their rubbish and dirt.
Video, 11-14 year category
Green culture
Mariah Morgan Ruggier, Raquel Zerafa and Danielle Galea Mascari, St Monica School, Gżira.
The video was taken at the Permaculture Centre in Mġarr and talks about tree planting and composting to promote a more sustainable and natural way of life.
Video, 15-18 year category
Busy bees
Carmen Galea, St Thomas More College Secondary School, Tarxien.
This video was shot last May at the opening of Pembroke Nature and Heritage Park. The park is the home of hardworking bees. These insects are crucial in pollinating different wild flowers and agricultural plants.
Moreover, bees produce unique natural products such as honey, propolis and beeswax. Without bees, we would have less fruit and vegetables and thus there would be less food for humans and animals.
Bees need to be protected from harmful pesticides. So organic farming should be the right solution for a better, sustainable environment.
Photo, 19-21 year category
Short-sightedness
Johann Camilleri, Żejtun Eco Centre
Glasses can be used to cure short-sightedness. But what remedies are being offered when we act short-sightedly towards our environment? We tend to be short-sighted where the environment is concerned as we don’t see further than the end of our nose, and we do not reflect on the impact our actions will have in the long run on mother earth.
Environmental problems are a hot issue in today’s society because of the neglect of previous societies who acted short-sightedly towards their environment. Pollution of air, water and soil, global warming and deforestation are among the threats our environment is facing.
According to Albert Einstein, “the environment is everything that isn’t me”, so to take a step towards a better environment. We have to look beyond the horizon and think environmental-friendly before we act.