The ‘reduce and save’ project: An Island-wide resource management awareness initiative

Abstract

The Republic of Malta is an archipelago composed of three inhabited islands - Malta, Gozo and Comino. The main island of Malta has one of the highest population densities in the world, at 1566 inhabitants/km2, and is the largest island, with an area of 246 km2. Gozo has about 31,000 inhabitants and an area of 67 km2, while Comino is much smaller and has fewer than 10 inhabitants and a hotel. In 2008, the government of Malta, through the Ministry for Gozo, embarked on a programme with the aim of transforming Gozo into an eco-island. This initiative was called the eco-Gozo Project - a Local Sustainable Development Strategy for an Island and Its Community. As part of this undertaking, the ministry commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Malta to conduct an educational campaign named ‘Reduce and Save’. The aim of this campaign was to design and deliver information sessions on water and energy conservation, renewable energy and waste management in every household in Gozo. The main objectives of this initiative were to increase awareness and disseminate eco-friendly information with the aim of improving the quality of life and levels of sustainability on the island. The methodology consisted of training courses, examination of the trainers, the island-wide house-call programme, the approach used during the visits themselves and the results compiled through a specific questionnaire. These actions all served to couple an educational campaign focusing on sustainability and environment-related issues with a data-gathering exercise in an island community. The results showed a favourable opinion on renewable energy and energy-saving and water-conservation measures and gave a snapshot of the renewable energy installations (such as solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems), energy-saving measures (such as roof insulation and double glazing) and water-saving measures (such as recycling of grey water and the use of rainwater catchment in dwellings’ existing water cisterns) at the time of the home visits. In the context of the development of a local, community-based sustainable development strategy, this initiative was instrumental in empowering and engaging the population at a time when this wide-ranging community project was being launched.