With summer steadily on the way, Malta will soon be experiencing a heavy influx of locals and tourists descending onto the island’s beaches. And while it’s great to lap up the sun and maybe even have an impromptu picnic by the sea, this raises the possibility of a great deal of plastic ending up in the sea. Making sure the right tone is set before the hot season arrives in full force, one Maltese person decided to take matters into their own hands with an awesome (and passive aggressive) guerrilla approach to litterers.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon, just next to the National Aquarium in St. Paul’s Bay (already a very popular area at this time of year). A woman spotted a number of people stopping and looking at a car that was parked there, and it was only after she approached it that she realised why.

Neatly taped to the windscreen of the car was a note in red ink:

“I noticed you dropped these next to your car before walking off and wanted to make sure you didn’t lose them, or worse still, for them to end up in the sea.”

The mystery-notewriter closed off with #YoureWelcome and #Trashis4Tossers, a hashtag which has recently been used by Maltese activist group Malta Clean Up.

“I bet they will think twice next time before littering,” the woman who posted a photo of the car on Malta Clean Up’s Facebook group commented. 

The photo quickly got over 280 reactions, with people sharing it on their own profiles. 

Dozens of people commented on how the note was a great idea (and definitely well-deserved), more so when the person who posted the photo elaborated by saying the bag had “a bunch of plastic cups” inside.

Malta Clean Up admin and organiser herself Camilla Appelgren quickly joined the conversation, commenting on how the hashtag could’ve been a dead giveaway that the person behind the awesome DIY note was actually a member of the group.  “It’s spreading,” Appelgren told Lovin Malta, “and I bet it will be popping up elsewhere very soon!”

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).