As part of the EWWR 2021, the students at SBC Middle School take part in a series of activities, workshops and class discussions that raise awareness amongst the whole school community, and beyond through our social media platforms, about how we can change our ways to reduce the amount of waste that we generate.

The first action focuses on olive picking and preservation. As a school we are lucky to have a good number of olive trees surrounding our premises. If olives are not picked up, they end up being wasted, while also causing unnecessary litter in the yard and ring road, which could even cause accidents as it becomes slippery when wet.  This is a shame, when considering that the olive is such a good food staple and part of our traditional cuisine. The olives are picked up by a number of different students, so as to involve as many participants as possible, always adhering to Covid-19 restrictions about keeping bubbles and distances. The olives are then sold, at a very cheap price, to the students, staff and parents, who preserve the olives themselves at home after being shown the traditional method in class and even given the recipe on social media. The fundraising money is invested back into the school, to organise other environmentally friendly activities. This action involves being part of a circular community and raises awareness about the beauty of nature, supplying us with good food, and it also raises awareness that food should not be wasted.

The next action focuses on reducing the amount of litter amongst us. The students participate in a litter less campaign which raises awareness about the harmful effects of litter in our environment. Students participate in 7 different actions: appreciating the beauty of nature, harmful effects of plastic on animals, harmful effects of invisible pollutants, reducing our consumption in order to reduce waste, adopting a zero-waste lifestyle, the importance of a joint effort to reduce litter, and finally a clean-up to pick up any litter that surrounds our school premises. This action takes place in different forms, including class discussions, the making of a video to raise awareness on adopting a zero-waste lifestyle and participating in a school clean up.  For every action, information is disseminated both through school assemblies and through our social media platforms.

The next action focuses on the thematic aspect of circular communities – old is gold, specifically clothes. Students participate in a class discussion whereby they realise that many of our clothes are made from plants and therefore a natural resource is being exploited for our needs. They also learn the importance of recycling, upcycling, and donating clothes, and the difference between recycling and reusing while eliciting from them which is best for the environment. The students then participate in a craft activity, whereby they upcycle an old t-shirt and make a bag out of the t-shirt material. Finally, students bring old clothes and put them in the blue bin for recycling. This is then collected and transported to other countries, where they are sold as second-hand items.

The following action sheds light on the importance of reducing electric consumption in our school. This action takes the form of an investigation. First, the electric consumption of the school is measured. Then various actions are taken to reduce consumption, such as switching off the lights when leaving the class rooms, switching off the air conditioners, the computers, and the IWBs. Notices are stuck to each classroom door so as to remind students and staff to take these small actions daily. After a few weeks, the electric consumption of the school is measured again, and compared to the initial measurement. Through this action, students experience first-hand, how small actions carried out by many people can have a tremendous effect on our environment. Students also learn why electric consumption is harmful towards our environment because of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and the use of non-renewable sources of energy.

The next action concentrates on water consumption. In our school, various actions have already been taken to reduce water consumption, such as the installation of faucets with timer and half-flushing. Water from the school roof is collected and used as second-class water to flush the toilets and for washing, while water from the parking area and the yard is stored in another reservoir as third class water and is used for irrigation. Excess water from our reverse osmosis plants is also stored as second-class water. Our action involves class workshops whereby students reflect and discuss ways on how they can reduce their daily water consumption, by implementing small changes in their lifestyle. Through an activity, students learn how easily water is wasted, and why water is such an important resource, especially in the Maltese islands, where fresh water sources are very scarce.

The final action focuses on paper waste. Being a school, students and staff use a lot of paper every single day. This action takes the form of an investigation, whereby the total amount of paper used daily by our staff and students is measured. Students learn the process of paper making and reflect on how they can change their ways so that they reduce their paper consumption, and their impact on the environment. Finally, some trees are planted at our school to compensate for the amount of paper waste being generated at our school. Some students will have the opportunity to visit a recycling plant to see how paper is collected and treated before being used again.  After the visit the students will produce a promotional video to disseminate information by sharing their experiences both during assembly and through social media.