Abu Dhabi: More than 50 organisations gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday to show their support for Paper-Less Day, an initiative launched by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) in 2008.
The groups signed a charter calling for the day to become a fixed staple on the global environmental calendar and presented it to UNEP, which endorsed the UAE-wide initiative.
Paper-Less Day was designed by EAD to encourage people to reduce their paper use. It has gained popularity in the UAE in an unprecedented way with 141 organisations and academic institutions representing 126,756 individuals throughout the UAE and Arab world taking part and contributing to an estimated reduction in 4,287 kilogrammes of carbon emissions from the UAE.
EAD invited government and private groups, communities and individuals to commit to Paper-Less Day through a dedicated website which was launched on May 11.
The number of participants rose from 17,000 during the first week to 126, 756 by of June 3, when the Paper-Less Day was observed. At total of 58 per cent of visitors to the website were from Abu Dhabi and around 41 per cent were from other emirates.
Praising this initiative, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said "Engaging society on environmental challenges, from the public to policy-makers, often works best with a simple and straight–forward concept: Abu Dhabi's Paper-Less Day, the brainchild of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, is one such action-oriented idea. What begins as a paper-less-day, can build into a paper-less week or a plastic-free month and eventually into the ultimate goal-transformation towards a low carbon, resource efficient 21st century Green Economy," he added.
Speaking at Monday's ceremony, Razan Al Mubarak, EAD's Assistant Secretary General, said: "Despite the advent of digital technology, high levels of paper consumption remain prevalent inside many businesses and other organisations, much of it unnecessary. By asking people to 'think before they print', Paper-Less Day demonstrates that a substantial reduction in paper consumption can be made simple and without pain, which we hope leads to a greater consciousness and effort the other 364 days of the year. The only impacts are positive: less paper usage means less trees are cut down, less energy is used in the end-to-end process and indeed it means less cost for the organisation too," she added.
What do you do to save paper? Do you have any tips on how to reduce the number of papers used on a daily basis? Are people not bothered when it comes to saving paper?
