Have you been to the beach recently, looked around and spotted – much to your horror – a plastic bottle embedded in the sand? A cup hugging the shoreline for dear life? Or a bag fluttering in the wind? If so, you’re not alone! But, instead of huffing and puffing and blaming other people for not cleaning up, do something about it. Pick it up. Or pick three of them up, take a photo and hashtag #waveofchange!

That’s the message these three guys - Neil Agius, Gilbert Bartolo and Richard Zerafa – want you to take on board. And they too are getting out of their comfort zone in order to inspire a tide of change – by swimming around Malta in a 70km, 24hour swim challenge to raise awareness of the destructive reality of plastic pollution.

At the moment, it’s all hands on deck to get ready for the challenge, which is due to take place on one of the last three days of this month, depending on the weather. Training is all-consuming, with swims of over 80km sometimes taking place over the course of a week. “It’s hard because the training and the hours can get quite intense,” Neil says.

“We swim for seven hours on a Saturday, seven hours on a Sunday and two hours every other day, for six days a week. We also embark on night swims, from midnight to 6am”, he explains. What is key to the preparation? “Putting in the hours of training and mentally preparing for it, as it will be a physical and a mental test for the three of us,” he answers.

The challenge itself will be quite a logistical feat: the group will start and end in Marfa, near Cirkewwa, in the evening and will have a boat each accompanying them, as well as another for supplies and food. “We will be stopping every 30 mins to eat and drink something, but we will remain in the sea and won’t be getting up onto the boat, so it’s going to be exhausting,” Neil says. They’ve luckily been supported by the QLZH Foundation, who have been leading the way by carrying out many underwater clean-ups and even launching an initiative 'plastic police', to monitor disposal on Malta’s beaches and educate the public. 

Such dedication to the cause was itself inspired by personal experience, Neil continues. “When you’re swimming at night and you hit a plastic bag, you get a fright, as you don’t know what it is. It is then that you realise that there is so much plastic in the sea! Seeing this plastic all the time is what pushed it for us.”

And, he hopes, this is what will push people to do something about it. “We want to get people to join in, and hashtag. We’re swimming around Malta to make people aware of what they’re doing, to become more conscious of their actions”. He described seeing loads of ice cream cups in the water – “people just leave them on the beach... the wind picks them up and deposits them in the sea” – so an increased awareness will hopefully lead to cleaner seas. “People don’t need to give money, but take action!” Neil says. 

And, here’s how to take action and show your support:

1. Pick up 3 pieces of plastic waste
2. Take a photo of the items you collected
3. Share it on Facebook or Instagram using #WaveOfChange