For a long time, there has been a clear emphasis on the importance of tackling plastic pollution in our seas, yet the message appears not to have been accepted by everybody.

Still, others on the beach did not stand idly by and allow the beach to be covered in trash. They stepped in and took upon themselves an impromptu beach cleanup.

“After they left,” said the witness, “a man who appeared to be in his sixties began collecting their rubbish.”

Granted, beach cleanups, and not littering in the first place, are individual solutions which won’t break a global plastics system reliant on over-production and pollution. They are the very least we can do, though.

Despite having many problems, Malta continues to remain attractive to visitors every summer – in part because of the archipelago’s many beaches.

When you’re on the beach, gazing at the horizon and away from the chaos within, you can still get some idea of what a beautiful, unspoiled paradise this chunk of Mediterranean once was.

And here we are doing our darnedest to spoil it.

Maltese cleanup activists have proposed the firm step of imposing mandatory community service for those who have littered around the islands.

While the highly attended National Environment Protest earlier this year focused largely around the plight of Malta’s environment in the context of ever-more present development, the ubiquity of littering is indicative of a wider problem.

A significant chunk of the population exhibits total apathy and disregard for natural spaces – and all of the life within them.

Though there are many who are willing to clean up after those making a mess, they really shouldn’t have to.

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