Students at Saint Nicholas College Secondary School Ħad-Dingli have been investigating the effect of Covid-19 on the environment. Lockdowns and teleworking may be having some positive impacts on our environment. On the other hand, the use of disposal PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) has increased, creating a waste problem. At St Nicholas College Secondary School we believe that each and every one of us is responsible for conserving the environment so each and every one of us needs to act and take an active role to protect it. No use pointing fingers at other institutions – we need to take responsibility for our actions. So we decided to take action and promote the use of safe reusable masks both at school and in our community. We decided to encourage students to trash disposable masks and use reusable masks that follow WHO safety criteria. This is how the campaign My Mask – I Care came about.

What does the campaign involve?

· Students researched the impact of Covid 19 on the environment and presented their findings during school assemblies.

· A facebook challenge was created encouraging students, parents and friends to post photos of their reusable masks. The challenge is available on the school facebook page and was shared on the facebook pages of the local councils of Ħad-Dingli and Ħ’Attard in order to spread the message among our community.

· A campaign video was created and submitted for UNESCO and FEE’s Trash Hack campaign.

· Safe reusable masks following WHO’s safety standards are being sewn and will be given to students. This was possible with the collaboration of the local councils of Ħ’Attard and Ħad-Dingli

#TrashHack #UNESCO #ASPnetUNESCO #LitterLessCampaign #EcoSchoolsStayActive #YREstayactive #LEAFanywhere