Grants
Ecological Transition
Plastic free schools small islands
Project Length – 4 Months
We’re very excited to announce this project has been supported by Depeche Mode and Hublot through the Memento Mori Tour charity partnership!
The partnership has chosen to support projects that tackle plastic pollution. And in this round of funding alone, 7 projects have been supported across 7 countries to foundations within the Conservation Collective network.
Problem Statement
Plastic pollution is a global problem, approximately 7 billion of the 9.2 billion Tonnes of plastic produced from 1950-2017 became plastic waste, ending up in landfills or dumped elsewhere.
In many Sicilian schools, students buy water in plastic bottles from vending machines as well as snacks and other pre-packaged products with plastic packaging, contributing to a huge daily production of disposable plastic. Plastic in the sea and in the environment is severely endangering the conservation of biodiversity and microplastics have become a persistent threat also to human health. The initiative intends to increase information and lead to more correct behaviour. The geographical position of the small Sicilian islands, the difficulties related to reaching them and also staying on site discourage the implementation of adequate initiatives, since they would require a greater use of logistical and economic resources which can be implemented more easily in the rest of the region.
Years of work conducted by Marevivo in the small islands, however, has highlighted the need to intervene to guide young people to a greater knowledge and understanding of the reasons that underlie its protection. With reference to water resources, which constitute one of the most serious contingencies for these small paradises, the need to be able to dispose without increased costs, without exposure to the risks of environmental pollution generated by the excessive use of plastic bottles, becomes really important, without underestimating the advantages that would benefit the entire community, in terms of waste management and lower transport costs for the supply.
Project summary
The project aims to involve all the schools of the small islands of Sicily, supporting them in implementing practices aimed at reducing single-use plastic in schools. A Challenge will be disseminated through a public tender and a final prize will award the schools with 3 water filtration machines. The three classes awarded will also be given reusable water bottles.Virtuous examples that can be implemented by schools will be shared, promoting the knowledge of the advantages deriving from responsible use of plastic, but also of water, which has now become a resource at risk of depletion because of the irresponsible use, as well as advantages that could derive in terms of education and civic growth of the participants involved, but also social and economic for the entire community.
Outcomes
- Encouraging people to have a greater appreciation of the natural world and its value
- Encouraging governments, public institutions and media to act in ways that support the natural world
- Encouraging changes in public/consumer behaviour to better preserve, protect, and regenerate the natural world
- Reducing waste/better waste management
About the Organisation
MAREVIVO was founded in 1985 to promote and carry out interventions in favor of the defense of the sea, against pollution, the transport of dangerous substances at sea, the massacres of cetaceans, illegal and destructive fishing methods and the abandonment of sea harmful toxins in the open sea. Marevivo is an environmental association, recognized by the Ministry of the Environment with D.M. of 20 February 1987 art. 13 law 349/1986. It operates as a non-profit throughout the national territory, but also internationally through divisions and local territorial operating units. It is free and non-partisan and they carry out numerous activities aimed at environmental education, scientific research, the promotion of Marine Protected Areas, the defense of the sea and its resources, environmental information and territorial planning. The Sicilian regional delegation was legally constituted in 2011, acquiring its own legal personality, which makes it independent from the national body, with the exclusive constraint of the pursuit of the same associational purposes. Countless projects have been carried out by the association which have received prestigious recognition from the scientific and civil community. Marevivo manages two environmental education centers in Sicily.
DECEMBER 2023 UPDATE
There are just few days left until the deadline for the challenge “Plastic-free Schools Small Islands”. Students of secondary schools from the small Sicilian islands are working to present the projects telling their journey to gradually abandon single-use plastic at school. The projects must be submitted by Friday 15th December.
The three winning schools awarded by a commission will receive water purification systems, and the reusable water bottles will go to the three winning classes, so as to be able to eliminate the consumption of plastic water bottles at school. Good luck to all students!
*JANUARY 2024 UPDATE*
Students from Favignana, Ustica and Pantelleria won the competition to reduce single-use plastic in schools on small sicilian islands!
Marevivo Sicilia’s project, supported by Sicily Environment Fund thanks to funding received from The Conservation Collective through their Depeche Mode & Hublot partnership, will award 3 water purification systems and water bottles to the winners.
The initiative will enable approximately 330 students to abandon plastic bottles, saving the environment around 57,000 bottles per year.
**MARCH 2024 UPDATE**
Students in the schools of Favignana, Ustica and Pantelleria, winners of the Plastic Free Schools Small Islands competition, have been awared with water purification systems and reusable water bottles!
330 students can now become real environmental heroes, saving the environment and the sea of their islands around 57,000 plastic bottles per year.
