Whilst reading your article on the Citizens Forum [1], I was just about to make the same point about education as Lesley had on her comment, and had planned to bring the subject up at the forum. There does seem to be a whole generation of young people here who are completely apathethic to the issues that will ultimately affect them and their children in the future.
It’s promising to see initiatives such as Ecoskola/Dinja Wahda project now being introduced encouraging schools to educate children about the environment and how to minimise their impact. Some schools are taking this seriously, and it’s fantastic that a Gozitan school has just won the first prize (credit I believe, to an excellent head teacher and supporting staff).
Though I do feel the government needs to make other environmental initiatives, such as introducing the recycling collection system, much more appealing to young people if they are going to succeed. Young people in other parts of Europe equate being green with being ‘cool’. This does not yet exist here, but could be a way of making young people get involved and interested. The huge and sad, peeling billboard on the way to Victoria that advertises ‘Irricikla t-Tlieta’ (Recycling Tuesday) -is hardly any use when most of Gozo has a collection on Monday (!) and is not going to appeal to anyone, let alone young people.
Many people in my village (myself included) are still confused about it months later?.does anyone know where I can buy more of those grey collection bags?! Does anyone know where all this collected waste actually ends up? I’d be interested to know if it really is recycled properly. It’s a shame that there was not as much thought on how best to effectively launch the scheme as there was with the thorough, lengthy and costly introduction of the euro.
Annabel – Ghajnsielem