Wied Qirda bridge taking shape
The bridge across the waterway which passes through Wied Qirda in Żebbuġ is now taking shape.
The bridge is being built following works carried out by Infrastructure Malta to repair the adjacent road, which had previously collapsed, with a limestone foundation now visible along the road.
Once the bridge is complete, the waterway will once again be opened. The bridge replaces an illegally constructed concrete dam.
The holiday season may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it is also one of the most wasteful and expensive. Over the festive season, 125,000 tonnes of plastic wrapping used for food alone is discarded. Statistics show that consumers in the UK use over 365,321 kilometres of wrapping paper each year, and over 83 kilometres of this will end up in the bin.
The holiday season, for many, has also become a time of stress and anxiety over finding the ‘perfect gift’ or fitting in lastminute Christmas shopping. Has consumerism and spending become the new Christmas norm? Members of the eNGO Friends of the Earth Malta recently organised ‘Zero-Waste Christmas’, an event to share creative ideas and show that it is possible to give presents without breaking the bank or harming the planet.
Giulia Magri spoke to environmental activist and member of Friends of The Earth Malta Suzanne Maas on how we can be more environmentally caring towards our planet this Christmas and to reflect on what this festive season truly means to us: spending time and showing gratitude or spending money and panicking?
Giving or making gifts that do not harm the planet
Suzanne explains that Friends of the Earth Malta’s ‘ZeroWaste Christmas’ involved a number of craft workshops to create different gifts such as beeswax food wraps, lip balms, body and face scrubs and reusable decorations and ornamental items. “You do not need many skills to learn how to make these items, and it was lovely seeing individuals help one another create these crafts.”
In this day and age, more people have become aware of the amount of waste they produce, but during the month of December, all that seems to be thrown out the window, but it is not as hard as we make it out to be.
“As Friends of the Earth Malta, we suggest many things, and one of them is to generally get over this obsession with objects and buying things. If you want to give a gift, sometimes the best gift is that of time. We give people our time, we make things for them or bake, or go out on an outing… there are so many options which do not include providing a physical and material item.”
She points out that there is nothing wrong with buying gifts either, and today there are many ethical or environmentally friendly items on the market. More and more ethical companies are offering hampers with biodegradable cling film or no cling film at all, for instance. “Through the workshop, we showed people that you can also take waste products and make a gift out of them! Sometimes making a gift for someone and investing time in that gift is even more precious,” said Suzanne.
A period of reflection on our production and waste
For many, the end of the year brings about reflection on what has been achieved and ‘resolutions’ for the new year. This topic was also brought up with Suzanne, who says that during this festive period, one should reflect on what Christmas truly means.
“Is it about spending time with our loved one or spending our money? We see so many people today stressed and feeling rushed to get in all that lastminute shopping. Christmas has become so consumeristic and so focused on products, gifts and food that we should not forget what it truly means: spending time with one another and showing that we care and can be better people.”
It can be an opportunity for those who might not have a lot of money to spend.
Our habits and the way we create waste is something which has become engrained in our culture, and purchasing more – and ultimately wasting more – has become the ‘norm’ for Christmas, but that does not mean we cannot change that norm to improve our environment. “Throughout the past few years, we have definitely seen a change in mentality when it comes to waste and the use of single-use plastics,” Suzanne explained.
“The issue has become more mainstream, and we see more and more people bringing their own bottles, reusable straws and coffee cups. I believe that these small achievements are the first steps toward the much bigger changes we need to see in our society.”
Suzanne points out that while small individual decisions do have an impact on the environment, it is important to remember that bigger changes are required on a governmental level.
“As an NGO, we want people to make these small changes in their daily lives, but systematic changes ultimately need to be made at a higher level. We need to be more aware of those in power producing pollution, and civil society must stand together to demand better legislation to make society more environmentally conscious. In this way, taking care of our environment becomes the norm.”
Time to re-think our mind-set and norms
While discussing ways to cut down on waste, Suzanne explains that we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. We will sometimes need to purchase items and gifts, and we should not beat ourselves up for not following the ‘zero-waste’ lifestyle perfectly.
“I think, it’s about taking long-term decision, such as to carry a reusable water bottle, but we should not beat ourselves up when we have to buy bottled water when there are no drinking fountains nearby.”
She said that people need to rethink what they truly need and when it is necessary to say no to certain items. “I have been to a number of conferences over the past few years, and they always provide you with a tote bag or a reusable water bottle, which is great, but now I have over 20 tote bags!” Suzanne says.
She says that there came a time when she simply had to say no to things because she did not need them, even though they were free.
“Sometimes we need to remember that although these items are reusable, producing them requires resources and energy, so if we just leave them lying around, we are not using them properly.”
She says that this is a difficult mentality to develop. “It takes a lot to change our mindset, and it is hard to deny something which is given to us for free. It took me many years to get to the point where I could say ‘I do not need this free bag’. We accept things without even considering whether we need it or not,” she said.
Shifting the focus from spending money to spending time with loved ones may not be easy, but one needs to ask what makes this the most wonderful time of the year.
“It is simply the gifts? Are people even enjoying themselves? Or are we simply wishing each other a Merry Christmas and giving gifts?”
Christmas is a time to reflect, to care for one another and to celebrate, and all of these things can be done in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way by focusing on the bigger picture and spending less time stressing about lastminute shopping.
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Christmas has become so consumeristic and so focused on products, gifts and food that we should not forget what it truly means: spending time with one another and showing that we care and can ” be better people