Building sustainable communities in Dubai

Dubai: Authorities called on the public on Sunday to reduce their waste and focus on recycling as part of their collaborative efforts towards building sustainable communities.

“We have to be aware of the huge amount of things we consume and the volume of waste we produce. Unwise use of consumer goods and being unable to strongly adopt the culture of reusing and recycling has left us with the environmental threat of waste,” said Hamda Al Murr, head of sustainable waste management team at Dubai Municipality.

She explained that each individual in Dubai produces an average of 2.5 tons of waste annually, and that every hour residents throw away 250 thousand plastic bottles — affecting the lives of one million marine creatures per year.

“We should always think twice before purchasing an item, and recycling used goods can do a lot in reducing waste. Repairing old items rather than replacing it and developing a culture of donating equipment is essential in an individual’s preparedness for a mission to tackle the issue of excess wastage,” she explained.

She further pointed that when by recycling one tonne of paper, we are able to save 463 gallons of petrol, 6,953 gallons of water, 4,077 watts of electricity and 306 square metres in a landfill.

The scope of sustainability is not limited to recycling consumer goods alone, as the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), through its various energy conservation programmes, saved 544 kilowatts and Dh126 million in 2012.

Speaking at the first celebration of Unilever’s Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region’s Sustainable Living Plan, Sanjiv Mehta, chairman of Unilever Mena explained that businesses do not have the luxury of choosing between growth and sustainability.

“We have to choose both. We need to grow if we are to have the money, people and technology to invest in alternative energies, sustainable agriculture and innovations. But we need to find a new way to grow,” he said.

Private and public institutes that teamed up with Unilever’s sustainability programme include Dubai Municipality, Dewa, Carrefour, LuLu, Spinneys, Choitrams and Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society.

As part of Unilever’s sustainability plan, it launched the “Baqala” programme across the Gulf region in order to enhance livelihoods by providing grocery owners and entrepreneurs with training skills required to run their shops effectively.