UAE | Environment
Green Store award for shops that discourage plastic bag use
Plastic bags are on their way out and shops will be rewarded if they apply some new strategies to encourage customers to use alternative carry bags and reduce the use of plastics.
- It is estimated that 974 million plastic bags are used every year by shoppers in the UAE.
- Image Credit: Javed Nawab/Gulf News
Dubai: Plastic bags are on their way out and shops will be rewarded if they apply some new strategies to encourage customers to use alternative carry bags and reduce the use of plastics.
As an incentive shops could win a 'Green Store' award by Dubai Municipality if less plastic bags walk out of their stores with shoppers from January 2008.
It is estimated that 974 million plastic bags are used every year by shoppers in the UAE according to the My Bag My Earth Campaign launched by Dubai Municipality and the International Association of Human Values (IAHV).
The effect of stray plastic in the environment has much dire impacts on humans than the already lethal effect is has on marine species by polluting their ecosystem, it was highlighted.
About 100 representatives of leading shopping malls and retail stores in Dubai met yesterday to discuss options and strategies to reduce the use of plastic bags in Dubai.
The campaign has been endorsed by Princess Haya Bint Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
"Green Store Awareness Forum is the first time Dubai's retailers have to come together to arrive at practical solutions to reduce plastic bag consumption in this shopping destination of the world," said Abdullah Mohammad Rafia, Assistant Director General, Environmental and Public Health Department, Dubai Municipality.
Dr Prabhakar Rao, chief operating officer of IAHV said research findings suggest links between disintegrated plastic entering food chains and modern diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, bird flu and sexual disorders.
Share this article
More from UAE Environment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE

-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- HAAD action against doctor who sold sick leaves
- Napolitano warns against anti-Muslim backlash
- Fog sweeps the UAE
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
- So what will it take to float Gulf News' boat?
Community Reports
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
-
Surprising truth of 'abandoned cars'
An Abu Dhabi resident believes that some mechanics are using parking spaces as rent-free workshops


