Youth Action: Transforming trash and inspiring creativity

The Don’t Waste Waste campaign, under the auspices of the Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, continues to create awareness for the need to reduce waste going to landfill. A couple of months ago, the campaign launched a fashion competition inviting students to upcycle trash into fashion items which were showcased during a fashion show last weekend. Students were given the opportunity to do their bit in reducing waste by giving a second life to unwanted items.

The challenge was to reuse objects which are not recyclable, and which would otherwise end up in a landfill. In a nutshell, participants had to stay away from recyclable items, as they would receive penalties for including them in their fashion creations. Recyclable items such as paper and metal are considered resources rather than waste and reusing them can mean contaminating them, making them useless to recycle. Students still had plenty to choose from as textiles, rubber, foam and even wood-based objects were all accepted. Broken ceramics, stationery, CDs, snack packets and other creative items were also permitted.

Six teams from five different schools participated, among them Sir M.A Refalo Sixth Form, St. Benedict College, two teams from MCAST Gozo Campus, MCAST Institute for Creative Arts and Verdala International School; competing in seven categories including the best outfit, best bag, best shoes, best accessories, best headgear and best jacket awards, as well as an overall award for the best collection, with a fantastic grand prize of €1000 donated by Dizz. Group. The evening was compered by Chucky Bartolo , while the panel of six judges included senior representatives from the Malta Chamber of Fashion, the Dizz Group stylist, the Ministry for the Environment and others with a waste management background. After the models had showcased all their creations, the judges announced the Junior Fashionista team from St. Benedict’s College Secondary School in Kirkop overall winners, taking home the grand prize along with leading in all the other awards except one. The Best Accessory was won by Hair Divas, one of the teams from the Gozo branch of MCAST. See more photos from the event on the Facebook page: ‘Don’t Waste Waste’ and the website www.dontwastewaste.gov.mt