On World Ocean Day, marked on June 8, the QLZH Foundation organised a seabed clean-up in collaboration with Dive Systems and NGO Żibel.

Eight members from the foundation, kitted with protective gloves and net bags, dived at Manoel Island and collected 277 kilos of junk from the bottom of the sea.  The divers were supported by four snorkelers, as well as another eight people on land who also form part of the QLZH Foundation. The dive was coordinated by members of Dive Systems.

On land, Andrew Schembri from Żibel managed the separation and proper disposal of the waste while providing useful information on what items could be recycled and which could not. This also served as an educational session for members of the public present. The QLZH Foundation divers collected items such as plastic and glass bottles, cables, wires, a large tyre and remains of ropes, home utensils and a clock.

QLZH Foundation founder Steve Mercieca said: “We wanted to mark World Ocean Day by joining thousands of other organisations around the world that focus their energies on cleaning up what other people neglect. Living on an island, we are lucky to be surrounded by beautiful waters but the situation under the sea isn’t as nice as when seen from the top. Plastic residues end up damaging marine life, suffocating fish and entering our food chain. You will surely see us doing more of these clean-ups on a larger scale.”

This event ties in perfectly with the QLZH Group’s recent initiative of going ‘single-use’ plastic free across all of its branch network.

“We have always believed that we should contribute towards making the Maltese Islands and our planet a cleaner and healthier environment to live in. We have so far focused more on land, through our #Treedom Campaign, where we plant a tree for every house we sell, but our sea is equally important,” said COO Fabio Zuccaro.