A statement issued last Saturday afternoon by Nature Trust probably went unnoticed by many as Malta was hooked on what was happening in the limits of Mosta where yet another serious accident in a fireworks factory had taken place. Luckily, there were no fatalities this time.

In its statement, issued on the occasion of World Environment Day, Nature Trust urged the Maltese people to perform one single task – not a difficult one, but one which, unfortunately, we have been unable to do for decades, if not centuries.

Stop littering, the NGO said.

It’s as simple as that. Stop disposing of unwanted items on the road, in public gardens, on pavements, in the countryside, on the beaches – in short, everywhere.

The Maltese are known – well, at least most of them – for keeping their own private homes in ship-shape condition. But they get zero points for the way they look after all that is public. It’s as if it does not belong to all of us.

The irony of it all is that when some cleaning exercise takes place, we are proud to have picked up so many tonnes of garbage from the countryside or the sea.

Well, that garbage should not have been in the countryside or in the sea in the first place. It was there only because so many of us disposed of their unwanted items incorrectly.

We are lucky that we have systems in place that should serve to keep our country clean. We have rubbish collectors passing by our streets every day, sometimes even on public holidays. We have a waste separation at source system which is aimed at making things easier. There are waste-bins in public places which usually attract many people. Some localities have bring-in sites where glass, metal, plastic and other items can be thrown away. We have civic amenity sites where we can go to get rid of items we no longer want or need. And we also have a bulky refuse service through which large and/or heavy items can be picked up from in front of our own homes.

And yet many of us are not capable of holding on to a used tissue, and prefer to dispose of it in the streets or out of cars. Many of us cannot clean up after using public place for a picnic or a day at the beach. Some have not yet grasped the waste collection time-table, often taking out the plastics on the day when organic waste is to be collected, or vice-versa. And some leave torn mattresses and broken furniture on the side of roads rather than pick up the phone and call the bulky refuse services.

The level of indiscipline on such matters seems to grow from year to year. Fines do not seem to work as a deterrent. The more time passes, the more the country becomes dirtier. If there are education campaigns going on, then they are ineffective.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves.