The following are the YRE entries for this year.
Bikes are being ignored (By Cheyenne Grech Senior 2)
Everyday cars are becoming more popular and more vehicles are being bought in a lot of countries especially in Malta. More traffic is being formed and car accidents are increasing and are becoming more dangerous. Not only the cars are taking their spotlight in transportation there are vans and motorcycles each day at each time that are causing a lot of air pollution and there is a risk that a lot of people can get sick and can get a lot of diseases. It is a time for change and for the bicycles to take their turn to become our new heroes. Some children have a dream to go for bicycle rides with friends but in some countries it’s a bit dangerous to use bicycles because of accidents. We rarely see people riding on bicycles each
day. There are some people who really wish to start to have sports related to bicycles activities. Bicycles are being ignored every day. Some cycling-dreams are being turned down by vehicles like cars. There are a lot of harmful chemicals in air that the car’s engine produces like a lot of carbon dioxide that replaces oxygen in the air. There are a lot of advantages that bicycles can produce like you don’t need to buy petrol, it works by a person, starts pedalling the bicycle and that’s how its powered. It doesn’t cause air pollution, traffic or a lot of accidents. It’s healthier to use a bicycle because you can exercise. It’s really cheaper to buy then a car and there’s less of parking problems.
People can start a new way of life and a less time stuck in traffic and being late wherever they want to go. Without bicycles the world cannot be better so start using bicycles more than cars.
DISTRESS IN THE PUBLIC GARDEN (By Emily DeBrincat Senior 2)
The Kalkara Public Garden is a beautiful place, although it is quite small the garden is filled with colourful flowers that surround tall, green trees. However, most people who come and visit this place leave behind garbage and other items which do not belong in the garden. This might bother the people who live near the area or any people who visit the garden and respect the environment that surrounds them. Although people are sent to clean the garden every week or two, there is still not enough awareness about keeping the garden clean. In this picture one can see that some childish teenagers visited the area at night and decided to burn some school books (which in itself is an already rebellious action) and left all the torn, burned papers and even ashes on the garden floor. In the second picture we can see all the cat food packets left behind after being used. Although it is nice to feed the local cats it does not mean that all the trash must be left behind when the bins provided by the local council could have been used. Therefore, there is no excuse for leaving litter in the public garden.
Even though many positive things are being done to keep it clean, not many people know how harmful littering is for the environment in general. So to solve this problems posters must be put up, bins must be added to areas which are littered in and cameras should be installed so that whoever is caught littering gets fined. Despite this there are so many other ideas that we can use to help keep the environment clean, let us put these ideas into actions, but not tomorrow, not next week, not even next month but TODAY.
By Emily DeBrincat Form 2
St. Joseph Mater Boni Consilii School Paola
With each crack OUR world continues to moribund. Let us come together to make a change and save our beautiful planet.
The Falling Church (By Ema Aquilina Senior 2 )
In the heart of the beautiful village of Zejtun (Citta Beland) in St Mary square, one can find a small damaged chapel dedicated to St Mary of the Delivery.
This chapel was first built way back in 1575, however the architect cannot be found documented. During that period babies who passed away or still born were buried in the walls of the chapel. Due to a lot of damage the chapel was rebuilt in 1692. It’s first stone was laid the same day as the new parish church dedicated to St Catherine. When the church was rebuilt, the buried remains were moved together and placed inside a memorial stone stuck to the wall. There was a tradition regarding the statue of baby Jesus which was on the main alter. Pregnant women used to seek it to have a safe delivery.
Now, the church has been damaged for about a year and can’t be used. Half the altar’s ceiling is now falling. For 7 months, the parishioners, mostly elderly have been going to a church a few feet away, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a private chapel. In the chapel of Our Lady of the Delivery there is a magnificent painting of the “Assumption”. On top of the damaged chapel one can notice a small bell tower and on the side wall there is even a still functioning sun-clock.
Mary Cilia, an elderly parishioner from Zejtun is voluntary helping to raise funds in the name of the archpriest by drawing a lottery two times a month. The people living in the area eagerly await to buy tickets to help the chapel. People still don’t know the future of the chapel since it needs a lot of funds to repair the ceiling.
Free from all Pollution an Environment (By Mireille Galea Senior 2)
Nature at its best This photo demonstrates freshness and beauty, because there are beautiful white flowers with grey clouds, combined with grey sky, and the blue ocean with waves and brown land, with a small building in the middle surrounded with grass and few trees.
This photo was taken in Pembroke to demonstrate the beauty of the winter season compared with the sunny season. In this particular area in Summer it is very dry, with no signs of flowers, clouds, or waves. You can also notice that no rubbish is scattered unlike other times when people use this area for picnics hence leaving rubbish lying around and sometimes pick flowers. Everyone should protect the environment, nature. As you can see from the photo, it is pollution free and everyone should make an effort to keep a place like this, as nature made it.
You rarely see this area as it is in the photo. Malta had quite a lot of rain recently therefore this helped to make the place as you can see in the picture. This makes you realise that we need more wet days in Winter and less dry days in Summer. Rain is needed to keep our environment clean and fresh. We should also keep it clean by not leaving any litter around, but make use of bins available or if not take the rubbish at home and dispose accordingly.
The beauty of this photo is characterised by beautiful white flowers surrounding the area and the serenity that you feel just by looking at it. This is the way all of you out there should keep the world as clean as possible and keep it garbage free, so that we have more fields as beautiful as in the photo.
Let’s go green! (By Haley Cassar Senior 2)
Why is littering bad? What can litter cause? Can it harm us? Littering affects public health and it has a negative impact on our planet and amages areas where we work, live, play and so much more. Every year, great amounts of litter is dumped into the sea and pollutes the sea, killing living organisms such as fish and turtles but, does it harm us humans too?
Litter is waste or rubbish that has been disposed of improperly. It is simply throwing away objects on the ground instead of throwing them in a garbage bin or throwing them away when you arrive home. Littering is bad because first of all, it looks ugly and has a negative influence on tourists and it is difficult to clean. In order to reduce littering, taxpayers should be given incentives such as a reduction in tax if they separate all their ways appropriately with regards to trash disposal. Fines should be introduced and littering should become illegal. Disposing of waste improperly is treacherous because it damages the environment, harms living organisms and it can be a source of accumulating bacteria which leads to the spread of diseases.
Litter disrupts ecosystems. It is not only unsightly, but can be a breeding ground for rodents and insects, leads to water pollution and consequently can lead to disease. Trash attract rodents, mosquitos and other insects. These insects and animals then start to interact more with the human pollution. Disease which may be passed on to humans is carried by rodents, such as rats. Secondly, the trash decomposes the soil and so the soil becomes polluted. If the soil becomes polluted, so does our food and water supply because crops grow from the soil. Adults must set a good example to their children because children learn from their parents first and foremost and teachers have an important role as well to teach pupils to respect the environment.
We, Maltese people, are looking forward to next year as Valletta will be Europe’s capital city. We must start making more effort to take care of the environment around us and stop littering immediately. Our country is often criticized for having hideous sites covered in rubbish and dump sites. It would be a real shame if this becomes noted by tourists. In 2018 many tourists around the globe will be visiting our country and will be faced with litter on the ground and on our crystal blue sea and they will get a bad first impression on Malta. To attract tourists we must go green, use properly the recycling bins, promote recycling to reduce littering and maybe introduce tax benefits or fines, but most of all we should stop being selfish and think of the future generations.
Besides many litter items are not biodegradable, so they take years to decompose and so they are left to damage the environment. This may lead to wildfires and even to bad gas emissions and therefore contribute to climate change and global warming which is a very serious issue.
Littering is bad and has so many adverse affects. Why don’t we give our children a chance to admire and respect our marvellous and astonishing environment. If we truly believe in something, we surely can achieve it. Let’s all do this together!
(By Sabine Darmanin Senior 2)
Traffic in Malta (By Amy Bonnici Senior 2)
Journalist of Malta independent newspaper Simon Mercieca said that “over these last three years, traffic on our roads has continued to be on the increase”.
Public transport helps decrease the amount of traffic, that is why the Government should encourage people to use public transport more frequently by lowering the price down. Where one can, people should use more boats as a way of transport. A big problem is the number of cars in Malta because more cars causes more traffic, this is why people should Carpool. Carpooling is a very efficient way to reduces traffic. You can also save money by sharing the costs of driving with other riders.
One of the causes of traffic is parents driving their children to school. School transport should be free, so that parents wouldn’t drive their kids to school so that there would be less traffic. Furthermore Traffic is also the main source of noise pollution and noise pollution causes Sleep Disturbances and disturbances in Mental Health. Another way of decreasing traffic is by not taking a car and walking instead, this may seem obvious but not a lot of people do it. Other than lowering the number of traffic walking also helps in physical and mental health.
Even by doing one of these things you are helping to lower the amount of traffic in Malta. So now that you see what a big problem traffic is please assist in stopping the problem.
Picnic Area at Buskett ( By Maya Scicluna)
Buskett is a famous, nice and peaceful place where people go to relax, have picnics or even go for hikes. It’s very disappointing when you see rubbish around and sometimes even experience sound pollution.People should be made aware and keep these places clean as they are ruining nature and the environment.
This place is perfect for people to enjoy themselves but they should be more aware of the space around them, and keep it clean and beautiful. Having a walk through Buskett you can notice vandalism on trees, rubbish on floor/grass and broken rubbish bins. Another thing one can notice is that there aren’t many animals left around as we are ruining the place where they live, relax and enjoy themselves. Parents should let their children know that they need to be attentive not to make too much noise and no ravaging.
The photo is taken at Buskett. It represents some rubbish left behind found in plants. If you decide to go and have a picnic and play with balls and you know that you are too lazy to walk and throw rubbish in the garbage always take an extra garbage bag with you. Don’t leave balls, glasses and bottles in the plants or trees.
Awareness should be raised by putting more rubbish bins around the place. Wherever you go ALWAYS keep CLEAN and don’t step or cut flowers and also don’t cut fruit for trees.
Living in a reckless environment (By Michela Gatt Senior 2)
This photo was taken on 15th December 2016. This photo shows a little patch of garden where plants used to grow, but today, it is the opposite, one can only see, a lot of rubbish is thrown here. Only a lonely tree can be seen surrounded with its enemies, the rubbish.
This corner is an example of reckless behaviour! The local residents that live in this street say that the greatest problem is that it is ruining the place where these people live, “It is like living in a trash can.” The people that lived here claimed that this place is very dangerous because they found sharp broken glass, injections, little bits of wood, dead animals such as cats and more rubbish.
By law this area had to have a gate so people won’t go in this area throwing rubbish but it never happened. The people suggested that they would protest about this area and other areas in Malta that have problems with the environment like this area. By protesting, the local councils would notice that these areas have to be cleaned immediately. If this situation will be arranged, it would be much better and can also attract tourists to Malta and not only that but most importantly is that the environment would be much better and cleaner.
What we found on our way at Buskett (By Michela Gatt Senior 2)
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