Grant Thornton Malta embarks on a coastal cleanup day

On the 20th September, Grant Thornton Malta mobilized some 60 members of its team at several cleanup sites simultaneously as part of the firm's annual CSR event. Instead of turning a blind eye to the abundance of litter found across Malta's beaches and coastal walks, armed with gloves and garbage bags, Grant Thornton's volunteers channeled their appreciation for the island's environment into action to protect it. During this half day event, over 100 bags of litter were collected, with several notable odd items collected including a carpet, a broken bike, considerable beer cans and several large metal pieces.

Growing Together in the community is Grant Thornton's commitment to community engagement. Across Grant Thornton, member firms are actively involved in several areas covering education, healthcare, helping communities and people to grow, develop and unlock their potential, whilst also collaborating with charities and NGOs to support people in poverty. Such activities culminate in September, which sees a coordinated effort from all participants to be doing good on specific days across the globe.

Malta's Grant Thornton Save the Ocean initiative is part of an international campaign focused on keeping trash out of oceans, bays, rivers and lakes. In Malta's case, the cleanup activities were carried out in Pretty Bay, St Peter's pool, Xorb l-Ghagin, St Thomas Bay, Fomm ir-Rih, Sliema and Bahar ic-Caghaq.

With the support of Diveshack, the activity also saw team members collecting litter from the seabed in Sliema. As part of Project Aware, in addition to removing trash, volunteers contributed to one of the world's largest database on marine debris by logging each trash item. Scientists, researchers, industry leaders and policymakers rely on this data to inform policy and craft solutions to the growing ocean plastics crisis.

Healthy oceans are the life support system for our planet, providing 97 percent of the Earth's livable habitat and a home to more than 700,000 species. The oceans are vital to human health as well, providing jobs, enjoyment and food to billions of people. Half of the oxygen we breathe is generated by our oceans.

Unfortunately, tons of trash get dumped on our coastal land every year. The garbage includes plastic bottles, plastic bags and packaging, the odd condom wrappers, food wrappers and cigarette butts – detracting from the natural beauty of the shore and harming wildlife.

As part of this CSR initiative, Grant Thornton has also distributed educational material aimed at raising awareness on the subject, with more information including tips on what one can do to contribute being made available on the firm's website

Weekend cleanups have become one of Malta's latest trends, with several being organized on a regular basis by groups like Malta Clean Up and Żibel.