Dozens of tins, plastic containers, cigarette butts, glass bottles and batteries were among the 120 kg of rubbish collected yesterday in just one square kilometre in St Paul’s Bay thanks to 30 French residents.

A doll's head was among the rubbish picked up.

The big clean up was co-organised by Le Petit Maltais (an online guide targeting French speaking tourists and expats in Malta) and Malte Accueil (the official French residents in Malta association), together with the support of Nature Trust Malta.

Most expenses were covered thanks to a very French activity: eating! During lunch time, the President of Malte Accueil, Sylvie Aroskin, had organised the sale of crepes with all proceeds donated to NTM, who provided the skip.

"We just love Malta and want to help keep it clean," said Xavier Le Roux sales and marketing manager for Le Petit Maltais.

"For us, it's a fun way to get together while doing something good for the island. Now of course, we wish people would refrain from littering again."

Everybody can help…

You want to help keep Malta clean? No need to wait for the next cleaning operation of the French community; simply lead by example. Pick up a piece of garbage daily and post a photo of it on the '1 Piece of Rubbish Malta/Bicca Waħda Skart Facebook page.