Movies, tree planting and corporate initiatives are taking place on Friday in the UAE to celebrate World Environment Day.
Movies, tree planting and corporate initiatives are taking place on Friday in the UAE to celebrate World Environment Day.
Time is running out and lifestyle changes need to be made promptly, said Habiba Al Marashi, Emirates Environment Group (EEG) Chairperson.
"We hope that environmental protection will be a top agenda among governments, companies and individuals. We have much to learn from indigenous peoples around the world who know that the extinction of forests would spell their own demise. The same fate awaits all of us if we continue the way we live today. We share the belief that the time to act is now," she said
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is hosting activities from 2 to 6pm at Dubai Mall.
Emirates Diving Association (EDA) members will scuba dive in the Dubai Aquarium with a banner reading, 'Let the Ocean be our Aquarium,' tonight at 5pm and on June 7.
EDA will show a documentary at Mall of the Emirates Cinestar from the Journey to Planet Earth series, called The State of the Ocean's Animals which looks at why many marine species are disappearing. Tickets are on a first come basis.
In Sharjah the Al Qasba Development Project Authority is planning a two-day event which started with a clean up on Thursday and will continue on Friday at Abu Shagara Park from 5-7pm.
Other activities include an Art Out Of Waste competition, Save Energy campaign, and charity auctions where the proceeds will go to the Red Crescent. Two auctions will be held and paintings by local artists can be bought, from 9pm.
"The technologies we are developing, the massive production, usage and disposal of several items worldwide, are the main reason for destroying our own environment.
"From the UAE, we are uniting with the world to spread awareness of critical environmental causes such as global warming, waste disposal, desertification, water pollution, air pollution, and energy loss," said Dina Al Nakhi, Events Manager for the Al Qasba Development Authority.
The Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG) will hold a scavenger hunt and mangrove planting as part of activities from 2 to 7pm at their Ghantoot reserve to address environment threats and educate children.
To attend the fun day by EMEG free of charge contact info@emeg.ae or call EMEG office at 04 363 0582 to register. EMEG is asking all participants to bring plastic bottles to the event in order to help make a giant Orca.
Showing posts with label Earth--Article from Gulf News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth--Article from Gulf News. Show all posts
Friday, June 5, 2009
GOING PAPERLESS TO RAISE AWARENESS
The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) along with 12 other government institutions went paperless on Thursday to mark World Environment Day(June 5th).
10 tips
- Minimise and conserve paper by planning work carefully. Did you know that 1 ream of paper = 6 per cent of a tree = 12 pounds of Co2 and 17 reams of paper = 1 tree.
- Invest in printers that print on both sides n Use scanners instead of copying machines.
- Send electronic faxes instead of paper faxes.
- Store information electronically instead of in filing cabinets.
- Give friends, clients or vendors information on CDs or through email attachments instead of in bound folders.
- Do double-sided photocopying.
- Reduce the number of newspapers delivered to your home or workplace. Read the newspaper online.
- Train your employees to use the photocopier and printer properly so that paper is not wasted.
- Conduct a monthly paper audit to determine the kind and volume of paper that is being wasted and set a target to reduce the volume wasted the following month.
10 tips
- Minimise and conserve paper by planning work carefully. Did you know that 1 ream of paper = 6 per cent of a tree = 12 pounds of Co2 and 17 reams of paper = 1 tree.
- Invest in printers that print on both sides n Use scanners instead of copying machines.
- Send electronic faxes instead of paper faxes.
- Store information electronically instead of in filing cabinets.
- Give friends, clients or vendors information on CDs or through email attachments instead of in bound folders.
- Do double-sided photocopying.
- Reduce the number of newspapers delivered to your home or workplace. Read the newspaper online.
- Train your employees to use the photocopier and printer properly so that paper is not wasted.
- Conduct a monthly paper audit to determine the kind and volume of paper that is being wasted and set a target to reduce the volume wasted the following month.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Flushed away! How to switch to a more efficient lifestyle
Do you turn off your showerhead when not in use? Or turn the tap off when brushing your teeth? If not, then you are increasing the amount of grey water.
It is uncontaminated water that is wasted from domestic processes such as showers, baths and sink taps. Grey water comprises brown and black water.
The former includes sources such as washing machines and dishwashers, while the latter includes urinals and toilets.
Tapping into grey water conservation allows savings of anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of a home's water bill.
So why pay Dh400 for your monthly water bill when you could switch to a more efficient lifestyle?
By saving up to Dh200 in a month, you could eat out for nearly a week by spending an average of Dh30 for every meal, or buy a bottle of your favourite fragrance and use it for two months, take a budget flight to Jordan or Lebanon or save for two months and donate Dh400 for an eye operation for a child in Africa.
The saving in a year amounts to a whopping Dh2,400! So, how does one stop the water bill from climbing? A simple start would be to place a one-and-a-half litre bottle of water in your toilet's flush tank — it saves an equivalent amount of water every time you flush.
Educating people
Anoop Saxena, deputy general manager in water solutions for Bahri & Mazrouei Trading Company (BMTC) a Dubai-based company that offers eco-friendly engineering solutions, felt the need to work in the water conservation industry when he came to the UAE two years' ago.
He said: "I found this issue very interesting because buildings here are growing by the day. I want people to be aware that buildings should not only be beautiful, but also functional."
Saxena encourages people and businesses to recycle water in every way possible. Turning off your tap is one thing but saving most of your grey water is the way to go. It might sound impossible , but there are ways to do so.
A water recycling unit that helps reuse wasted water would be the ideal solution.
Saxena said: "We have permission from Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) to install these units."
He said the units could be installed to work in tandem with the pipe system of a house, or even office. "Such systems could save up to 80 per cent of water."
If the tap is running while you are washing the dishes, the grey water would be transferred to this unit, recycled, and pushed back to the house to be used in places that do not require human contact – such as flushing the toilet.
This would save water, and prevent your wallet from getting thinner, as the recycled water does not come from a new source, so you do not have to pay for it.
However, the unit does run on electricity, which would take away a small part of the savings, along with the initial installation cost of Dh22,000.
However, a well-maintained system would start paying for itself within five years - the average lifespan of the unit is about 15 years.
Additionally Dubai Municipality also has other service providers to install similar water saving solutions in your home, as part of their Sewage Waste Reduction Campaign.
Were you aware of the amount of grey water you could save? Do you have any tips to conserve water around your home? Tell us
By Mohammad Jihad, Community Web Editor
Published: May 03, 2009, 11:09
It is uncontaminated water that is wasted from domestic processes such as showers, baths and sink taps. Grey water comprises brown and black water.
The former includes sources such as washing machines and dishwashers, while the latter includes urinals and toilets.
Tapping into grey water conservation allows savings of anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of a home's water bill.
So why pay Dh400 for your monthly water bill when you could switch to a more efficient lifestyle?
By saving up to Dh200 in a month, you could eat out for nearly a week by spending an average of Dh30 for every meal, or buy a bottle of your favourite fragrance and use it for two months, take a budget flight to Jordan or Lebanon or save for two months and donate Dh400 for an eye operation for a child in Africa.
The saving in a year amounts to a whopping Dh2,400! So, how does one stop the water bill from climbing? A simple start would be to place a one-and-a-half litre bottle of water in your toilet's flush tank — it saves an equivalent amount of water every time you flush.
Educating people
Anoop Saxena, deputy general manager in water solutions for Bahri & Mazrouei Trading Company (BMTC) a Dubai-based company that offers eco-friendly engineering solutions, felt the need to work in the water conservation industry when he came to the UAE two years' ago.
He said: "I found this issue very interesting because buildings here are growing by the day. I want people to be aware that buildings should not only be beautiful, but also functional."
Saxena encourages people and businesses to recycle water in every way possible. Turning off your tap is one thing but saving most of your grey water is the way to go. It might sound impossible , but there are ways to do so.
A water recycling unit that helps reuse wasted water would be the ideal solution.
Saxena said: "We have permission from Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) to install these units."
He said the units could be installed to work in tandem with the pipe system of a house, or even office. "Such systems could save up to 80 per cent of water."
If the tap is running while you are washing the dishes, the grey water would be transferred to this unit, recycled, and pushed back to the house to be used in places that do not require human contact – such as flushing the toilet.
This would save water, and prevent your wallet from getting thinner, as the recycled water does not come from a new source, so you do not have to pay for it.
However, the unit does run on electricity, which would take away a small part of the savings, along with the initial installation cost of Dh22,000.
However, a well-maintained system would start paying for itself within five years - the average lifespan of the unit is about 15 years.
Additionally Dubai Municipality also has other service providers to install similar water saving solutions in your home, as part of their Sewage Waste Reduction Campaign.
Were you aware of the amount of grey water you could save? Do you have any tips to conserve water around your home? Tell us
By Mohammad Jihad, Community Web Editor
Published: May 03, 2009, 11:09
A WATERLESS WASH-------CLEAN YOUR CAR
Imagine waiting in line for 20 minutes and paying Dh30 to waste 180 litres of water. Not the ideal thing to do on a Friday morning.
This is the usual process of going to a carwash and the price we pay for having our car looking shiny.
With new technology the carwash could be your last resort. The only thing you need to do is open your front door.
Gregory Antunes, managing director of Ecowash Mobile (Abu Dhabi, Dubai), said: "All people need to do is call us and we would drive to their house [or office] with our equipment and clean their car."
Ecowash Mobile is a service that comes to your doorstep and washes your car … without a drop of water.
The service has saved around 18 million litres of water collectively in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan, where it has been operating since 2006.
This would not only minimise water waste, but also the time wasted in driving to and waiting in line at the carwash.
It has also helped save more than 56 million litres in its country of origin, Australia, since 2004.
Gulf News invited avid reader Sunil Roy, an Indian national, to try the service and see how effective it is.
Roy washes his car every week and did not notice the amount of water being wasted.
Roy, an account manager, said: "It was not until Gulf News's Wipe Out Waste (WoW) campaign that I started noticing this waste. But then again I had to keep my car clean so I continued washing it.
"I never thought it would be possible to have a car cleaned without wasting any water. Such practices should be encouraged."
Ecowash Mobile does not only clean a car, it also polishes the surface leaving it protected so it would only need to be cleaned every two weeks - equivalent to the two regular carwashes (Dh60) done every two weeks, without the waste of water. An Ecowash starts at Dh60. Its products are also made of biodegradable material.
Antunes said: "The bottles in which the products are supplied are recyclable, and part of the bottle purchase price is actually a recycling charge," Antunes said.
A part of the service fee goes to Greenfleet, a company that has planted more than 4.7 million trees in Australia since 1997.
This is the usual process of going to a carwash and the price we pay for having our car looking shiny.
With new technology the carwash could be your last resort. The only thing you need to do is open your front door.
Gregory Antunes, managing director of Ecowash Mobile (Abu Dhabi, Dubai), said: "All people need to do is call us and we would drive to their house [or office] with our equipment and clean their car."
Ecowash Mobile is a service that comes to your doorstep and washes your car … without a drop of water.
The service has saved around 18 million litres of water collectively in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan, where it has been operating since 2006.
This would not only minimise water waste, but also the time wasted in driving to and waiting in line at the carwash.
It has also helped save more than 56 million litres in its country of origin, Australia, since 2004.
Gulf News invited avid reader Sunil Roy, an Indian national, to try the service and see how effective it is.
Roy washes his car every week and did not notice the amount of water being wasted.
Roy, an account manager, said: "It was not until Gulf News's Wipe Out Waste (WoW) campaign that I started noticing this waste. But then again I had to keep my car clean so I continued washing it.
"I never thought it would be possible to have a car cleaned without wasting any water. Such practices should be encouraged."
Ecowash Mobile does not only clean a car, it also polishes the surface leaving it protected so it would only need to be cleaned every two weeks - equivalent to the two regular carwashes (Dh60) done every two weeks, without the waste of water. An Ecowash starts at Dh60. Its products are also made of biodegradable material.
Antunes said: "The bottles in which the products are supplied are recyclable, and part of the bottle purchase price is actually a recycling charge," Antunes said.
A part of the service fee goes to Greenfleet, a company that has planted more than 4.7 million trees in Australia since 1997.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Two beaches in Dubai closed as traces of Red Tide surfaces
Dubai: Beaches near Burj Al Arab and another one located close to the Umm Suqeim Park have been closed by the Dubai Municipality as traces of Red Tide in these two beaches have surfaced again.
Mohammad Abdul Rehman Hassan, the head of the marine environment and wildlife section, told Gulf News that there were no traces of Red Tide found on Dubai shores in the morning during water testing.
Red tide is the result of an influx of a type of algal bloom; it is so named because it turns the water a reddish colour.
"They have surfaced again and so we have decided to close the beaches to ensure the safety of beachgoers. People are advised not to venture into these two beaches. They should make no contact with the water, nor consume the dead fishes that are washed ashore. Care should also be taken not to inhale the air after a wave hits the shoreline. This can prove hazardous to health," he said.
Hassan did not rule out the possibility of shutting down more beaches if the Red Tide continues to frequent the area.
Mohammad Abdul Rehman Hassan, the head of the marine environment and wildlife section, told Gulf News that there were no traces of Red Tide found on Dubai shores in the morning during water testing.
Red tide is the result of an influx of a type of algal bloom; it is so named because it turns the water a reddish colour.
"They have surfaced again and so we have decided to close the beaches to ensure the safety of beachgoers. People are advised not to venture into these two beaches. They should make no contact with the water, nor consume the dead fishes that are washed ashore. Care should also be taken not to inhale the air after a wave hits the shoreline. This can prove hazardous to health," he said.
Hassan did not rule out the possibility of shutting down more beaches if the Red Tide continues to frequent the area.
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