Plastic and glass bottles, crates, disused tires of industrial size, ropes, forks, abandoned nets and all sorts of other items disposed of irresponsibly by their former users in the sea surrounding the Maltese Islands are the picture we do not see when taking it the breathtaking view of the seascape.

This was the catalyst for the Plastic Police Squad, deployed by the QLZH Foundation over last July and August. During these months, 71 members of the environmentally conscious foundation, gave a philanthropic meaning to their Saturdays by visiting nine beaches around the Maltese Islands. Kitted with high visibility bibs, gloves, and garbage pickers, the squad went around the most populated beaches in Malta raising awareness about the unspoken harm single-use plastic has on the fauna and the marine ecosystem.

Although the main goal of this educational drive was to draw the attention of bathers and beach establishments to the use of single-use plastic alternatives, the members of the QLZH Foundation felt compelled to collect any rubbish they came across. A total of 64 rubbish bags were filled with an array of items dumped on the beaches visited.

Together with raising awareness, the members of the Foundation had a stock of paper straws and cups. By stopping and speaking to people on the beach, the team also took away the plastic items being used and replaced by paper-based alternatives.

Ahead of this campaign, the QLZH Group, who manage the QLZH Foundation, gathered all its staff members and delivered an information session about the harmful effects of single-use plastic. This ensures all the team was on board and promoting the initiative by word of mouth. Following this, the Group issued an internal directive to go single-use plastic free across its branch network, amount to 27 offices and 340 team members. Together with this, the Group also replaced its business cards to fully recycled, plastic-free and eco-friendly ones.

The QLZH Foundation has organised similar activities to tackle the illicit disposal of waste in the sea. On World Ocean Day, the team behind the Foundation, put together an Ocean Bed Clean Up where over 377 kilos of garbage was collected from the Maltese sea.

In November, the Plastic Police Squad will organize a similar activity, going round bars and cafeteria along the Sliema and St Julian’s promenade to promote the reduction of single-use plastic, in a similar way it did on beaches, education people and giving out paper-based alternatives.

For more information about the QLZ Foundation, please visit www.qlzhfoundation.com