Collaborations
Our Ocean 2017
On 5-6 October 2017, global leaders were invited in Malta to commit to new actions to ensure sustainable fisheries, to mitigate climate change impacts, to announce new marine protected areas and to fight marine pollution in the framework of the Our Ocean 2017 conference.
Żibel assisted the partner NGOs Healthy Seas, Ghost Fishing and Sharklab (Malta) put together 3 events over the conference’s days.
Żibel led the clean-up carried out at Balluta Bay on the 1st October and managed the creation of Poseidon. The range of unique and exciting activities included:
Sea clean-up action by volunteer divers at Marine Protected Areas around Malta
“Our Ocean, Our Life” public engagement event and school programme
Ghost Net Exhibition at the Malta National Aquarium.
The ghost nets and other marine litter collected from the coastline and seas around Malta have been used for an eye-catching sculpture of Poseidon (King of the Seas) created by a local artist, Jennings Falzon. The Ghost Net Exhibition was opened at the Malta National Aquarium on 4 October, on the World Animal Day. This sculpture is a tribute to all those animals who died and suffered because of lost fishing gear and ghost nets.
BLANK Festa
BLANK x Żibel
An eNGO is nothing without its volunteers and supporters. BLANK has supported us since day one, and it’s for this reason we only thought it appropriate to do something special for the BLANK Festa 2018.
We all know that the past few weeks have been important in the lives of Maltese turtles. So we decided to pay tribute to these turtles from summer 2018; the great leatherback that fell prey to plastic, the one saved by loving hands in the water, and the 100 hatchlings who have found their new home in the sea.
Our message is simple: together we can take care of the environment we live in and it’s human and turtle inhabitants alike.
The majority of the decorations and props are made from repurposed items we’ve collected during marine clean-ups, as well as recycled materials.
We’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to Franco Vella, BLANK’s organiser for his constant support and giving us the consistent opportunity to raise awareness through BLANK.
The Make-up Festival
Tackling the Issue
When Clare, from The Makeup Festival, got in touch to collaborate on their pilot project, the team was super excited to get started. We wanted to give the project our own spin and spread awareness about the Ugly Truth About Beauty Products (http://www.vida.mt/the-ugly-truth-beauty-products/) i.e. the enormous amount of waste it generates.
The sign took 4 hours to make, as every little eyeliner pencil, lipstick, and perfume bottle was stuck firmly down with glue and then sprayed pink. The logo was laser cut by fabLab Valletta and sprayed mint to reflect the event’s branding. The sign came together beautifully and allowed passers-by to drop off a piece of unwanted makeup and see it become a part of this crafty project there and then. The finished piece made use of over 250 beauty products, big and small, and got its moment to shine towards the end of the evening.
The Makeup Festival gave us the opportunity to spread the word about a pressing issue in a totally new way. We couldn’t have done it without them, and all you queens who helped out, so thank you, and see you next year!
The Bubble Festival 2017
Ashtrays, Bins, Signage, Volunteer Staff & Waste Managment
In the summer of 2017, the team at Żibel was approached to handle the waste management for the week long Bubble Festival, held at Ghajn Tuffieha. All profits from the festival go towards environmental & humanitarian causes around Malta. The festival is staffed by volunteers all donating their time and expertise for the event.
Our mission was simple; aiming for zero to landfill. This meant ensuring clear signage was visible throughout the festival, indicating bin locations, an army of ashtrays across all areas, co-ordinating volunteers scouting the area around the clock and emptying bins and lastly, leaving no trace once the festival was over. This was also the first year the festival ran for one week versus a weekend in previous years.
After the festival closed its doors, pack-down commenced. The next two weeks saw the Żibel team perform multiple on-site checks to clean-up after the pack-down crew, ensuring to the best of our abilities that no trace was left. Unfortunately, due to the heavy storm which hit the festival on the Sunday and un-recyclable items used for decoration, the zero to landfill target was not reached. Our recommendations for the next year’s edition were passed on to the organisers.
V18 Greenfest 2018
Sign Painting
Once a year Pjazza San Ġorġ in Valletta is carpeted with a huge floral arrangement comprised of thousands of flowers. 2018 was no different. Along with other NGOs, Zibel teamed up with the GAIA Foundation to provide a quick activity for families and individuals visiting the square that day.
Our journey began in Paradise Bay, our goto location for drift wood. We hitched a ride with the Cleansing and Maintenance Division dinghy, were we swam to shore and picked our favourite pieces. We let these pieces of wood dry in the sun for a couple of days. When our wood was done baking in the sunlight, we headed over to our friends at Pallet42. Michael from Pallet42 sanded down our wood and prepped them to be handled on the day. Meanwhile, a list of slogans was thought-up by both organisations.
Fast-forward to the day and we invited anyone in to paint a message to those visiting the beach, explaining where these signs came from and their final home. After the event, we varnished each piece and arranged and unclear artworks. Then began the planning of prospective locations across the bay, using reclaimed or natural materials to tie it all together. All that was left was to install the signs and spread the word over social media.
Interested in joining our cause?