Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino yesterday signed a new sponsorship agreement between HSBC and WasteServ Malta Limited through which the bank will sponsor the Xummiemu campaign for the next two years.
The aim of this Lm10,000 agreement is to encourage young people to be pro-active in safeguarding the environment. The character of Xummiemu was launched in the 1990s and had a great impact. The campaign has been updated and is focusing on waste management with specific emphasis on waste minimisation and separation.
Mr Pullicino smiled when told that Xummiemu was “his baby”. The spokesman for the two signatories also described Xummiemu as “the most appropriate character to educate children about the importance of looking after our environment and reducing waste”.
HSBC’s chief executive officer Shaun Wallis, who is also the chairperson of HSBC Cares for Environment Fund, spoke about the importance of environment care.
The fund has three targets: reforestation, wild life conservation and earth watch. The Xummiemu campaign is included in the third objective which also promotes the 3Rs 4 us WasteServ campaign: reduce, reuse and recycle.
WasteServ Malta Limited chairman Nick de Giorgio said Xummiemu is a pretext to organise numerous events in schools, popular locations, TV programmes and puppet shows.
After thanking HSBC Bank for such an initiative, Mr Pullicino added that interactive educational games are available for children on the www.xummiemu.gov.mt.
Kids clubs aimed to make children learn more about Malta’s environment and how best to protect it are quite successful – 3,000 children have already registered.
Xummiemu is not only a mascot, Mr Pullicino said.
It is a means used to increase children’s awareness of environmental problems and is involved in government campaigns aimed at changing mentalities as well as consumption patterns in our everyday life.
This is another important initiative for Mr Pullicino in the environmental sector, after the “Plant a tree” national campaign.
Xummiemu will be portrayed wearing different uniforms for the “different jobs” he must carry out in the various aspects of ecological importance.