EnviroMalta

14/01/2022

I had to fact check this. 🧐

really does contain bacteria which mirror the effect on neurons that antidepressants provide! 😃

So it's safe to say that getting your hands all up in that dirt really will make you feel good ☺️🌿

31/12/2021

- Important reading as we move into 2022!

This year passed by in a flash, and next year will do. Let's make every day and every choice count 😎

05/12/2021

Incredibly well deserved!! Congratulations 🥳

❗Great news this evening:
We are proud to announce that our volunteer Angelique Lofaro awarded the volunteer of the Year 2021 award by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector this evening at a local event commemorating the UN world volunteer day.
💚Well done Angelique and a big thank you for your incessant work towards the protection of local wildlife and their habitats. The Award was presented this evening by HE the President of Republic of Malta Dr. George Vella.
💚

28/11/2021

Really though … do you NEED it?

With Black Friday adverts appearing everywhere, activists are calling on consumers to be aware of mindless overconsumption and the impact it has on the environment. “People need to ask themselves if the purchase is driven out of a ‘want’ rather than a ‘need’,” said Tamara Fenech, country...

03/10/2021

Malta is BEAUTIFUL!!
Let's take a moment to appreciate a few natural places on the island of Malta. Even though Malta is such a small country, there are a couple of woodland areas and lots of garigue land.
🌳Woodlands:
🔸Buskett - 📸 Unknown
🔸Mizieb & Ahrax - 📸 Matthew Mirabelli
🌵Garigue:
🔹Pembroke - 📸 Leslie Vella
🔹Dingli Cliffs - 📸 Reemt Peters
What do you think are the most beautiful natural places in Malta?

30/09/2021

Last day to support the Bee Saving initiative!! Please sign!! 🐝🦋🐞🦗

Friends of the Earth Malta condemns the illegal roadworks at the iconic Blue Lagoon in Comino. This has become a worrying trend – from Dingli to the island of Comino and other places which have not been highlighted in the media

30/09/2021

- To Living More Sustainably! 🌾
Living a more sustainable lifestyle involves using less and REDUCING our consumption of materials. That's the first of the 3 Rs we all hear so much about. Let's face it, 🌲 trees are a valuable resource to the planet and reducing our paper consumption might not seem like such a big deal on an individual level. But ... just think about how beneficial it would be if lots of people did the same!
📄 Go Paperless! 📄
1. If you're given the option to receive advertisements, notices, letters, statements and bills by email instead of by post - TAKE IT! In Malta, you can find lots of companies that give you the option to go digital. Some of them will even charge MORE to send you printed bills or statements by post! If you're not sure that they have that option, just ask. If they don't do it at all, why not put that suggestion forward to them?
2. Receiving e-cards or e-vites instead of their paper counterparts can be equally exciting! 💌 Cards and invitations are very sentimental things, sure. Americans alone buy around 6.5 billion greetings cards each year! Many of these get thrown away, same with paper invitations. Just think of how many trees we could save by going digital ...
3. This is self-explanatory. 📲 Make a digital shopping list, take your laptop to school and take notes on that, and take your tablet into a meeting room instead of your notebook. Type it out, save a sprout 🌱... (I just made that up).

27/09/2021

What an awesome study!! I'm sure the results will be beneficial to scientists globally. 👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬

👩🏻‍🎓Over the past months our interns carried out studies on how plants and algae can reduce pollution

🌿Two different algae, Ulva lactuca and Cladophora sp., were used to determine if those plants could remove the polluting nutrients and if one of the algae was better than the other.

🌿The algae would use the nitrates, nitrates and phosphates to grow. In the meantime, they would remove the excess nutrients from the water.

🌿The results of the study showed that Cladophora alga was more efficient and remove up to 97% of nitrates, 86% of nitrites and 41% of phosphates.

🌿Further experimentation should be implemented to confirm the results.

27/09/2021

How will Climate Change affect the Maltese Islands? 🇲🇹🌍

Climate change is a serious global issue, but how close to home is it? Professor Maria Attard is the director of the Institute for Climate Change at the University of Malta. She states that the following problems are likely to occur unless the government takes urgent action.

☀️ Climate change is already seeing an increase in temperature globally. Anything beyond 1.5-2 degrees Celsius "might see an acceleration of the predicted impacts", including extended droughts, extreme temperatures, and harsher flooding.
🔥 We have already experienced some intense heatwaves this year, and the continuous temperature rise can encourage more heatwaves and wildfires - speeding up the desertification of our land.
🌊 The rising sea levels across the globe will not sink Malta into the Mediterranean. However, a rise in just 70cm by the end of the century could result in infrastructural problems in coastal and port areas. This will be especially problematic as Malta depends heavily on imports and private transport.
🌵 Malta is home to several endemic trees that usually thrive in drier and warmer weather. However, these trees are already "falling victim to drought and heat."

👨‍⚖️ The Maltese government needs to take more effective action against the climate crisis. Professor Attard has scrutinised the government's unambitious Energy and Climate plan. The European Commission has also noted that our politicians are not doing enough "to cut on the main sources of emissions in Malta."

Information source: https://theshiftnews.com/

24/09/2021

Save Bees & Farmers! 🐝 👩‍🌾

Friends of the Earth Malta are running a campaign that calls on the European Commission to support a different agricultural model that allows farmers and biodiversity to thrive in harmony. They're pushing for bee-friendly farming across the whole EU!

Unfortunately, the working agricultural policies promote boosting yields through the increased use of toxic agrochemicals, damaging the biological diversity that support our food systems. This puts our food, livelihoods, health, and environment under critical threat. ❌

🌾 The plan is to slowly eradicate synthetic pesticides in EU agriculture - at least a reduction of 80% by 2030 - starting with the most dangerous.

They're also looking to:
🌼 repair natural ecosystems in agricultural areas so that farming aid in the recovery of biodiversity;
🌼 reform agriculture by prioritising small scale, diverse and sustainable farming by supporting agro-ecological and organic methods and pesticide-and GMO-free cultivation.

For anyone who wants to read more about this and participate in the petition, click here: https://tinyurl.com/dwxwbnth

23/09/2021

- To Living More Sustainably!

Living a more sustainable lifestyle requires effort. It means that we need to implement certain habits into our daily lives that might seem like a chore at first, but once these new routines settle in, the planet will benefit, and so will you!
So, let's start from the basics ...

💡Turn it off!💡

1. Turning off the lights is something we take for granted ... "Maybe I'll go back into the room soon. Why bother turning the lights off just to switch them on again in a little while?" True, but think of the wasted energy that's going into a room while it's not being used. Wasted energy that you're also paying for, by the way! So turning off the lights not only benefits the planet but also your pockets in the long run.

2. It's amazing how much energy certain devices use when they're not being used but still switched on from the wall sockets. Turning off all your devices at night (except for what is essential) will, once again, save lots of energy in the long term.

3. Turning off your computer at the end of the workday is a courtesy to the planet and to your employer. You're only using it for 8 hours a day, so why have it running for the other 16? You might not be paying the electricity bill but the planet will thank you for this kindness.

22/09/2021

This would be amazing!! But will it happen?

A group of 24 local architects and engineers have released a proposal for a massive afforestation project for the Maltese islands, named ‘Help Malta Breathe’. The locals propose planting 40,000 indigenous trees in Inwadar National Park, stretching from Żonqor Point to Marsaskala and Xgħajra. T...

21/09/2021

Educate yourself! 👩‍🏫

🥶🥵 What exactly is climate change?

When we talk about 'climate' we're referring to the average weather records taken over many years. Climate change is a shift in those average conditions.

Global temperatures are currently rising at a very fast rate, and this can be quite problematic for the planet. Methane and CO2 are the largest contributors to climate change and this is causing several issues, including:

🌎 As permafrost melts, methane and other greenhouse gases escape into the atmosphere.
🌎 Tropical coral reefs may disappear as oceans absorb CO2 and become too acidic for the corals to survive.
🌎 Water shortages across the globe make it extremely difficult to produce food.
🌎 Polar ice and glaciers are melting quickly. Low-lying coastal areas are now threatened with flooding and rises in sea levels.
🌎 Because of this, some areas have already become uninhabitable.
🌎 Polar bears are also in danger of disappearing as the ice they require melts away.
🌎 Changes in sea temperature can leave certain species at risk as they struggle to find suitable temperatures to breed in.
🌎 We are starting to see more extreme weather events like heatwaves, downpours, and storms. These can threaten the livelihoods of many people and animals as these events become more frequent and intense.
🌎 Wildfires are becoming more prevalent, causing the destruction of habitats and forcing some species to find new locations quickly.
🌎 Unfortunately, since this is happening so fast, some animals are likely to become extinct as they struggle to adapt.
🌎 People in poorer countries will suffer much more as they try to acclimate to the Earth's changes.

Remember: The problem we all face is backed up by scientific evidence.

Follow us to learn more about how you can make even the smallest of differences and share the knowledge with your friends and followers too.

19/09/2021

❓What is EnviroMalta?❓

EnviroMalta is your go-to channel for all things sustainability in Malta. We're here to give you tips on how you can live a sustainable life, and we're going to do it like this:

✅ We'll be showing you different kinds of eco-friendly items and shops that you can find on the Maltese market, as well as sharing product reviews.
✅ We plan to highlight eco-friendly events that support sustainable shopping or locally made products and artisan markets.
✅ Education is fundamental! So we'll be sharing knowledge about environmentalism and sustainability and help you develop habits that could change the world!
✅ We also want to support local NGOs as they do their part for our beautiful Islands and feature incredible people who do critical work behind the scenes.

❓Why should you follow this page? ❓

Well, it's simple. Our planet needs help. We're a very small country, but we have tremendous voices. Individually we might not make much of a difference, but collectively we can move mountains! So let's work together to turn this page into a fantastic resource for people to come and take what they can to help our planet.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to start improving the world." - Anne Frank

Spread the word and Share EnviroMalta with your friends!

❤️ 🇲🇹

19/09/2021

“Copernicus monitors the ozone layer using computer modeling and satellite observations, and although the ozone layer is showing signs of recovery, Copernicus says it would not completely recover until the 2060s or 2070s.”

17/09/2021

📣 Attention! Eco-Events on this weekend:
📆 18th & 19th September

Extinction Rebellion Malta & Fridays For Future Malta are holding a protest on the 18th of September in Valletta. ✊Their demands are very clear and you can read more about that on their event page here: https://fb.me/e/1xTN895Yq

Stand up and be counted! Have your say on how the Government of Malta continues to handle the Climate Crisis.

A couple of Francescas are setting up a 2-day Pop Up Thrift shop 🛍 in Swieqi with 10% of their sales going to CLAWS cat shelter. Shop sustainably by buying pre-loved or up-cycled 2nd-hand clothes! Read more about that on the event page here: https://fb.me/e/1CvTNV7hY

Follow us for more updates on sustainable and environmental happenings around the Maltese Islands. 🌎♻️

16/09/2021

World Ozone Day! 16th September 🌎
There's a hole in the Ozone layer - the molecular layer of ozone that protects the Earth from solar radiation. ☀️The hole allows entry of large amounts of ultraviolet light into the Earth's atmosphere which results in longer summer seasons. 🥵
What can we do to help protect the ozone layer?
1. Avoid the consumption of gases dangerous to the ozone layer 💨 - like CFCs, halogenated hydrocarbon, methyl bromide and nitrous oxide.
2. Use more alternative modes of transport 🚴‍♀️ - Leave your car at home! Minimising the use of cars reduces the release of gases that degrade the ozone molecules.
3. Use eco-friendly cleaning products 🧴 - certain solvents and substances found in cleaning products are corrosive.
4. Support local businesses 🥔 - buying local products will mean that less transportation was required to get the item to your door. The further an item travels, the more nitrous oxide is released into the air.
5. Maintain air conditioners - this will stop CFCs from escaping into the atmosphere.
Share this post and spread the knowledge!