Tell us about your NGO
I set it up in 2014. When I came to Malta in 2012 with my kids I had my first clean-up as a PADI instructor. It all started with a PADI aware dive. After this, I organised some small clean-ups with my children, and people told me to set up a Facebook page so that more people can join us. I did so in 2014 and I had two Maltese people join me who are still coming to cleanups with me after all these years.
We remained between 100 to 200 members until 2017 when an article appeared about a cleanup we held with the then Mosta Mayor. The next day the group had thousands of members. Today we have around 8,000 members.
How many people turn up to the clean-ups?
It depends on the site. If it is an easily accessible area like Manoel Island we would have around 50-60, whereas if it's not we would have like 15 or 16.
What made you decide to start this, and make it a weekly thing?
Diving played a big part. Malta wasn’t very dirty on land when I arrived in Malta, but when you go diving, you can see the impact which not all people see. When you tell people they still didn’t believe and didn’t realise how dirty it was, and so we needed to start showing people the overall picture. By holding cleanups you pile up the trash, you collect the statistics and show how much thrash there is. It is very rewarding not just only on a personal level, but to see society change with cleanups by not only not littering, but also by becoming environmentally aware and not using plastic straws for example as they see the effect plastic has.
How has cleanliness in Malta changed over the past years?
From the view of people not involved in cleanups, it would seem as though it is getting dirtier, but that is based on the fact that the population is growing. Awareness, however, is very good at the moment.
Do you find assistance from the authorities, easy access and aid?
They are very approachable and have always given support. They provide the tools and come and pick up garbage etc. What I do find lacking in some cases relates to them taking on ideas when it comes to people management. It is good to place more bins and issue fines, but you need to evaluate the target group – where are the bins needed, what kind of litter is there in x area, can we place a recycling bin instead of a normal bin, etc. This is the part I find a bit lacking by the councils, the need to evaluate and then go for a solution. Right now it is quick solutions without studying the situation. They also do not realise and make use of the knowledge within the NGOs – people dedicating their lives, learning new things and looking at other countries. They don’t do it on purpose but they might not be aware of all the knowledge out there.
Should the government be sending employed persons to clean up valleys etc, rather than letting people use their personal time to conduct such cleanups?
I’ve lived in other Mediterranean countries and Nordic countries. Lately, the mentality had become that someone is paid to do that for us. This will lead to people taking advantage of it and littering on purpose as someone is paid to clean it up. If we keep having paid service, people will keep littering. By having volunteers cleaning up, their family members and friends would realise that it is not someone who is paid cleaning up but someone they know, and would feel worse about littering.
The government could put all its effort into helping, through funds and equipment.
Are they providing support to NGOs?
Yes, they are supporting quite well. It’s a fine balance, yes they should clean it but if one looks at other countries, like in my home country Sweden, street cleaning exists in core centres of big cities, but in villages, nobody would be paid to go with a broom. The villagers themselves would take care of their own space.
Is it a mentality problem here in Malta then? Do we need a mentality shift?
For sure. This is a bit of the Mediterranean impatient mentality. Not all people are aware that they actually litter. Putting a bottle on a wall for cleaners to take it is seen as ok for some, while it is actually littering. It is a mentality problem, and we need to begin taking care of the country.
Where are the worst sites you’ve come across with regards to littering and dumping?
Visually, it would be near St Mark’s Tower on the coast near Bahar ic-Caghaq. That area is like a war zone. It is piles and piles of rubbish. Visually that is the worst, but what makes things more complex is that what is worse for the environment might not be piles of construction waste. That area is construction waste mixed with everyday living items.
Looking at the beaches, they are quite well maintained, with daily cleaning and recycling bins. What people cannot clean up, however, is the microplastic. There are millions of pieces of microplastics on all the beaches in Malta no matter how clean you think they are. This is worse than the piles of garbage near St Mark’s tower.
How can they be cleaned?
It's a balance. Yes, you can have the equipment to sift sand up to 1m down, but you disturb the small bacteria in the sand which needs to be there for the ecosystem to work. So there’s a fine balance as for whether you should do it or not?
How many cleanups have you held at St Mark’s tower?
That was actually the first land cleanup I had gone to back in 2013. Every year, I would say that at least 10 cleanups are done by NGOs, pressure groups and also the cleansing department. It's an ongoing issue.
Aren’t there any cameras to catch the culprits?
Its a very remote area so the cameras would most likely be taken down by the people who don’t want them there. The area is also a protected coastal area, so it is a very sensitive area that is being ruined. Another area where there is a lot of rubbish is Chadwick lakes.
If the authorities identified these areas as dumping hotspots, isn’t there a monitoring system in place, and if not should there be?
The laws we have are there, but the environment is not prioritised by enforcement. For example, they prioritise chasing a naked man in a bay more, yet there are situations on sites which have much worse effects on the people of this country. These areas are protected sites. Its supposed to be a nice little walk to St Mark’s tower for example, and all they need to do to protect it is close it off.
In addition, if the police see something happening on their way travelling from A to B do something about it whenever they have time.
What are your main issues with enforcement and what do the authorities need to do?
In many countries, you can film a person littering, go to the police and hand over the clip. Your part would then be done. They would take care of it and find the person. In Malta, you can hand it over but they will tell you that if the person contests you would need to go to court with the video and take a day off work. Not many are willing to do this for a bottle thrown from a car. What I have found is that if you have a clip and you see the person in the car, and the person can be connected to the car, then they don’t need to conduct an investigation and the person will most likely not contest as there is too much evidence. Investigations into this have the lowest priority and I’ve even heard of people being laughed at for reporting someone littering.
From your experience, what is the more immediate problem, construction waste dumping, or everyday littering?
It's a complex issue. The ignorance of someone throwing a plastic bottle on the floor in front of a crowd of people is a threat. If one is so ok with breaking the law in front of a lot of people and sure you won’t be told off that shows the situation is on another level. People do litter in Sweden, but they would try to hide what they are doing as they know the majority of people would harshly tell them off.
In Malta, people would rather not say anything as they want to avoid getting into a conflict and they know the police would not necessarily be on their side. For society, that might be worse.
Construction waste has its own issues, where companies cannot legally dispose of the waste due to lack of permits, for example, having to find places to get rid of it.
Are there more foreigners or Maltese who take part in the cleanups your group organises?
It started with more foreigners. I dug into this situation given that so few Maltese wanted to join, and the reason was that many had given up. It wasn’t that the Maltese weren’t willing to do it, and it was more that they didn’t see the result from many years before. Foreigners come here with the idea of fresh in their mind of how the situation is in their country, where they call up the government and the site would be cleaned with the issue not popping up again.
I do see that some foreigners joining the group do get demotivated after a while. It’s not that the Maltese don’t want to clean up, it’s that they are demotivated due to previous experience. I strongly believe that we are all equal in this. The environment has no origin or borders.
Is this changing?
The nationwide cleanups I organise are now around 60-70% Maltese whereas before it was closer to 40%, as now they are seeing some results.
How can the government improve the situation?
There are a lot of good initiatives and schemes out there. The thing they do miss out on is telling people why they should do this. There is a lot in terms of what people should do, like sorting organic waste, but not much explanation to people as to why. The why is the motivational part.
I can tell someone not to park in a spot but they would park there anyway. If I were to tell the person that my grandmother in a wheelchair needs that spot and she will soon be here they are more likely to understand.
Government is pushing for waste separation at home and will be introducing fines in relation to this, what is your opinion?
It's a good step to enable recycling, but again they are missing out on the ‘why.’ There is a reason Malta has such low recycling numbers despite so much awareness raising exercises.
In addition, we need to see the political parties working together, and my pressure group is trying to bring them all around one table to come up with a solution. There is a lot of pride, that they would do this for Malta, but exclude the other parties. It's important to involve all people.
Are there enough bins in Malta?
Amount wise yes, but they are not in the right sites. We have the amount, but they are placed in weird places. The contractors should have a sheet and take note if a bin is always empty, placing them in areas where bins are overflowing. There is no quality assurance as there are so many bins not being used, and too few bins in overflowing areas.
What kind of studies in this regard would you recommend?
One council had organised something similar with the bins for dog excrement. They checked if bins were overflowing and moved bins around is needed. All you have to do is ask the contractors to report if bins are overflowing, and let the authorities know the areas.