Maltese and Gozitan students participated in a hybrid celebration of the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) awards, an international Education for Sustainable Development programme run locally by Nature Trust FEE Malta. Four international awards were handed out to Maltese projects from a total of 330 entries. 

The HSBC Malta Foundation sponsored one of the YRE awards which was presented to Gozo College Xewkija Primary School for an article investigating ways in which they could live life more sustainably. The student representing the EkoSkola Committee, in her article written during the past scholastic year, emphasises the importance of reducing plastic, and highlights ways in which the school is including this important issue in the curriculum and through subjects such as maths. The full article can be read on YRE Malta’s website.

The article focuses on how the students conducted surveys and kept data on plastic consumption and how it was being reduced both at school and in the community. The same students conducted a campaign on how to reduce litter. The school, through the four-year-long litterless campaign run by the Foundation for Environmental Education, sponsored a sustainable toolbox containing reusable items, such as reusable dishes and cutlery, encouraging students to carry their lunches in reusable containers, switching from disposable, single-use plastic items. Furthermore, the school, in its bid for carbon sequestration, invested in growing more trees at school. 

Glenn Bugeja, Manager Corporate Social Responsibility at HSBC Malta said: “It’s always encouraging to see young people being so passionate about sustainability and also taking practical steps in their schools and the broader community. The YRE award gives students the opportunity to explore sustainability themes in greater detail, resulting is some great reporting as well as genuine change.”