The three R’s are great principles and are theoretically easy to put into practice. But how many of us manage to achieve that on a daily basis?
Personally, I struggle at work with lots of printed paper that is needed for a meeting and then never used again. I have stacks of scrap paper just waiting to be reused and then recycled.
There are many things that can be done at home or at the office to help reduce the amount that we consume, and that can be recycled. Review your behaviour: how do you re-use your plastic shopping bags? At home we use them as bin liners, cat litterbags, wet clothes bags, anything that you can possibly use a plastic bag for. We also re-use a carrier bag for as long as possible.
The great news is that retailers are starting to become part of the solution. For instance Lulu Hypermarket has introduced bio-degradable plastic bags. This means that if you do have to use a plastic bag, it will naturally decompose over a few years and ultimately cause no further harm to the environment or animals. That’s a great step forward to a more environmentally conscious emirate.
Re-using and recycling at home in our day-to-day lives is easier when you can build it into a routine and make it a habit. But what about when we aren’t at home or the office? What about special events and different times of year? How much wrapping paper is thrown away at Christmas? Have you tried using recycled paper? Or making your own? Or using old magazines (even old copies of Tempo) to wrap birthday presents in?
We can also all do our bit when we are out about at events. Abu Dhabi has an amazing range of diverse events happening throughout the cooler months, but the amount of materials used to host these events that heads straight to the incinerator is staggering. And that’s not including the extra plastic that is used in plastic bottles, cups, plates and materials used by all of the visitors at these events. Have you thought about how many plastic cups get used during the average concert at the Du Arena? And what would happen if every attendee brought his or her own cup or bottle and only used one for the entire night? How much plastic could be saved?
Becoming eco savvy would go a long way with helping to decrease the pressure on UAE’s landfills that are rapidly filling up. And we all know that no one person can reduce the pressure of our consumption on this planet, but rather we all need to do our part, whether it’s big or small, to make our lives more sustainable so that our planet is still here for generations to come.
By Emma Kirkman
