Żgħażagħ Brijużi Dinglin (ŻBD) is a group of young persons coming together, and bringing together different local voluntary organisations, to organise a number of fundraising activities in aid of the local village feast celebrations (traditions held across Maltese villages and towns).

Through the 2019 activities, ŻBD wanted to raise awareness amongst the locals on waste reduction, and ways through which they can contribute towards safeguarding our environment. Thus, a number of initiatives were undertaken:

Plastic reduction
Even though Żgħażagħ Brijuzi Dinglin never held the tradition of using helium-filled balloons, every year balloons are released on the passing celebrations in the street from a huge net hanging from between buildings. Joining in efforts by other villages to reduce plastic waste in Sunday morning celebrations, this year we also opted to exclude the use of balloons.

Instead of plastic balloons, ŻBD invested in a bubble machine. This is an innovate way on how celebrations and the festive environment can be kept, while reducing the negative impact on the environment.

Giving back while reducing food waste
Ultimately, as we did previously, extra food from the yearly Majjalata (a public BBQ attracting 550 villagers from a locality of about 4,000 locals), will be given to a charity of their choice. This will ensure that the good quality food does not go to waste, while giving a helping hand to those in need!

Bring you own tableware!
In this year’s Majjalata, Żgħażagħ Brijuzi Dinglin was hoping to have one of the biggest public events with the least waste possible, primarily by encouraging those attending to bring along their own reusable plate, cup and utensils, in an attempt to reduce the use of disposables.

With around 500 people attending each year, with 3 course-meals, if every person makes an effort, this goal can be another milestone for Żgħażagħ Brijużi Dinglin, but more importantly the impact on the environment will be huge!

This was a huge success. In fact, approximately 75% of the attendees brought their own re-usable plates, cups and utensils. Through this initiative, it was estimated that 800 disposable plates, 400 forks and knives, and another 400 cups less were used for this event.

The greatest success for this event was the fact that the Dingli Community came together. It was one way through which 550 individuals could contribute and feel a part of something bigger towards addressing environmental issues.

As this initiative was given high media attention, both on news portals, and on the local news channels, as well as the organisations’ social media platforms, the outreach and awareness was greater!

During the European Week for Waste Reduction, “throwback” memory posts will be uploaded on our social media platforms. As during this time, other organisations with the same scope start planning their events for next year, we would entice innovative thinking towards addressing environmental issues, primarily waste reduction, and encourage such organisations to follow suite.