Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1243341
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2020 8 CULTURE NATURE NOT all birds are spectacular. The small perching birds of Europe are particularly lacking in distinctive features, and you need patience, experience, often a good ear and binoculars to tell most of them apart. But then, that's part of the lure of discovering nature. One such bird is the common whitethroat (bekkafik aħmar), a regular spring visitor to Malta, stopping for a few days before resuming its migration to mainland Europe to nest. It's a slim little beauty, mostly grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts – don't be fooled by the Maltese name, the 'aħmar' is just a reference to a bit of richer brown on the wings! But for all its drabness, watching this active little fellow quietly but fervently 'working' a mallow plant for aphids is a joy. To me it's al- so a little reassurance that some ecosystems are hopefully still intact, despite the terrible human onslaught on nature. Text: Victor Falzon Photo: Raymond Vella 709. COMMON WHITETHROAT Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 606 Join us: https://foemalta.org/event/open-call-for-volunteers/ THE Malta Business Bureau (MBB) and the HSBC Malta CSR Institute have hosted their first set of online webinars on food waste reduction, expanding these sessions to an international au- dience. These were organized as part of the Business Against Food Waste Campaign led by the MBB, in partnership with HSBC Malta and ITS, and with the support of Wasteserv, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Tourism and Consum- er Protection. The partners have now hosted more than 250 par- ticipants over 6 seminars and 2 webinars, showing a strong appetite to reduce food waste at work and home. Participants have come from several sec- tors, namely manufactur- ing, hospitality, services, retail, the public sector, post-secondary schools, and the general public. Another set of webinars will be held on 28th and 29th May. These will fea- ture an expert lineup of speakers, each bringing a different perspective to the food waste challenge Food waste has become a hot topic in the EU and locally. In Europe we are throwing away roughly 20% of the food we pro- duce, with the Maltese figures standing at 22-25%. This has several important implications, including significant environ- mental issues, economic losses, and ethical concerns surrounding throwing away food. Discussing the support MBB gives to the local business com- munity, MBB CEO Joe Tanti stated "we are committed to keep on helping businesses improve the sustainability of their oper- ations and increase efficiency. The MBB has managed projects ranging from water conservation and energy efficiency, to food waste reduction, all of which tie into the EU's Green Deal strate- gy. Increasing resource efficiency and cutting costs are even more relevant now with Covid-19's im- plications for businesses." HSBC Malta Corporate Sus- tainability Manager Glenn Bugeja highlighted the bank's commit- ment towards fostering greater sustainability within the com- munity. He added that "through the Malta CSR Institute, we have managed to educate and raise awareness on key topics which have a real impact on our lives, such as water and resource effi- ciency. We have now seen that there is great enthusiasm to find ways to reduce food waste among our employees, clients and the public at large." Reflecting on the progress achieved within the campaign, MBB Project Manager Ga- briel Cassar said "reduc- ing food waste is one area which holds a lot of poten- tial and which will result in significant environmental and economic benefits. The strong interest seen so far shows that we are on the right track. Naturally, the current situation has forced us to rethink our strategy. However, we are confident that online train- ing is the way forward and will allow us to reach even more people, while reduc- ing travel and our carbon footprint." If you would like to regis- ter for the final set of webi- nars in May, kindly contact Glenn Bugeja, HSBC Manager for Corporate Sustainability, on glenn.bugeja@hsbc.com. For more information on the Business Against Food Waste Campaign, please contact MBB Project Manager Gabriel Cassar on gcassar@mbb.org.mt or go to www.mbb.org.mt/business- against-food-waste Food waste seminars go digital