Fujairah based businesses and individuals share ideas on how to go green at work and at home

Over the last couple of decades we have seen a culture of excess. With more money at our disposal we have wrongly come to believe in a world without limits. Yet, the fact remains that the world has a limited amount of resources. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population may swell to over 9 billion by 2050. By then, if the world’s natural resources were evenly distributed, people in 2050 will only have 25% of the resources per capita that people in 1950 had. Is this the world we want for our children? Now, more than ever is the time to consider why we can save for our kids’ college education and other expenses but not save clean air, water, soil and energy sources for them to live on! Some of the greatest threats to future resources come from things we throw away everyday. Household batteries and electronics often contain dangerous chemicals that may, if sent to a local landfill, leak through the bottom barrier and pollute the groundwater. The risks to human health are tremendous. Throwing away items that could be recycled diminishes energy, water and natural resources that could be saved by recycling. Did you know... For every ton of paper that is recycled, the following is saved: 7,000 gallons of water; 380 gallons of oil; and enough electricity to power an average house for six months. You can run a TV for six hours on the amount of electricity that is saved by recycling one aluminum can. By recycling just one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours. Here, we share ideas with some local businesses and individuals to see how we can do our bit, however small, to create a culture of environmental responsibility together.

Le Meridien Al Aqah: continued its environmental efforts by partnering with Al Boom Diving on 19 September for Project AWARE’s Cleanup Day. Al Boom Diving, which has a branch at the resort, is one of the UAE centres for Project AWARE. Al Boom deployed a diving boat to allow a host of divers to participate in the East Coast cleanup. It discounted dives by 50% on the day to encourage participants. Staff from Le Méridien Al Aqah also participated in the project, which started at 9am and concluded in the afternoon. Hotel General Manager, Patrick Antaki has always sought to keep the Meridien Al Aqah at the forefront of any environmental initiatives undertaken in the region. To encourage and replenish participants and divers, the hotel was offering a 30% discount on food and drinks at the Gonu Bar and Grill, the restaurant located on the shores of the resort’s private beach. Hats off to a really creative way to save our waters and our money!

Star City Apartments: have come up with a novel way to create and spread environmental awareness. The hotel-apartments are opening their coffee shop, aptly named, ‘Go Green Café’ in mid-October. Going beyond just food and service, the café promises to engage the customer in a multi-dimensional experience. “The café has an interesting concept,” says owner, Safeer Abidi. “It is an environment-themed café as we want to promote environmentally-friendly living. All the products we use and serve will be environmentally-friendly and you will see something new when the café is open.” The hotel is located in Mirbeh, on the way to Khorfakkan.

Rachael Coleman: Homemaker and young mother, Australian-born Rachael is doing her best to model Australian environmentally-friendly practices in Fujairah. “Overall it is much harder to be environmentally conscious here - with little places to recycle, no incentives, people littering and driving large engine size cars and lack of education. Coming from home to here was a real shock with what seemed no recycling available to the community. It was not until we met other people that we learned what is available but still UAE is miles behind the rest of the world - using more water per capita then any other country in the world and with such limited water sources of its own.” She explains, “In Australia, we have 2 large "wheely bins" (200litre bins on wheels) collected once per week for rubbish and once a fortnight for recycling. All recycling is placed in one bin and sorted. The bins are collected by local government councils. Some states have chosen to have 3 bins - one smaller for rubbish, 2 larger - one for recycling and one for green waste. Recycling bins take in glass, paper, cardboard, tins, aluminum, plastics etc. Hard rubbish like old furniture, carpets etc. is collected once every 2 months. Through paying our council rates we are entitled to visit the dump free of charge. Here you can throw almost everything as well as dump batteries for recycling and oils (car oil). There are plenty of rubbish and recycling bins everywhere with serious fines for littering. Overall, it is a cleaner, nicer environment. “The government has money incentives for installing solar power, changing heating from log fires to gas, and having water tanks. When building in parts of Australia it is now compulsory to have water tanks and insulation for keeping houses cool/warm, thereby using less power for air-conditioners and heaters. More people are building energy efficient houses – there are lots of choices and designs to keep electricity and water costs down. We use a lot more gas products which are cheaper to run and better for the environment. “Petrol is more expensive and people are deciding to drive smaller cars, use hybrids, convert cars to gas technology or diesel, catch public transport, ride bicyles, scooters and so on. Overall we are more conscious about driving distances, leavings cars running with air-conditioners on etc. The cost of power/water is also more expensive so we are more cautious with usage. There are water restrictions in most states. People are choosing water-wise gardens rather than lawn; use of mulch to help retain water; installing dripper watering systems rather than sprinklers that lose more water to either the footpath or the atmosphere. Major supermarkets and shopping chains encourage reusable bags as plastic bags now come at cost to the buyer.” Despite the lack of such practices in Fujairah, Rachael tries to go green any way she can. She says, “We recycle paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminum cans via the DNV office in the port. My husband Tim works inside the port and takes the recycling in to DNV on a weekly basis. At home, we have changed all light globes to energy efficient; we clean the filters in our air-conditioners regularly for efficiency and cleanliness; turn off electrical appliances at the wall as when on standby there is as much electricity used as if the appliance was running. We support organic products and produce; use reusable shopping bags at the supermarkets. No plastic bags are required and if I do get them I recycle. I’ve changed all cleaning products over to "Green Works" or "Earth Choice" (found at Lulu's, Choithrams etc). I’ve also made some of my own cleaning products using vinegar, bicarbonate soda rather than bleaches etc. We use the washing machine on cold wash at 30 degrees and I use vinegar and lavender oil as my rinse aid rather than a soft chemical agent. “It seems absurd not to preserve this natural beauty for generations to come,” says Rachael. “It’s a true shame. But within my household I feel I do what I can and am proud to think I'm doing my little bit to help protect and conserve a planet for my children to grow.”

Joan Stephenson:UK citizen Joan teaches piano in Fujairah. The young mother of two believes in downsizing and simple living. The Stephenson family gave up their large and spacious villa to move into a boat recently. Storage space is limited on the boat and yet, Joan saves her recycling material in her little spare bathroom on board so she can take it in to the HCT Women’s College once a week. She can often be seen struggling down the gangway with her bags of recycling! Says Joan, “I try to be aware of the environment and do little things in order to try and help preserve the world in which we live. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of recycling here but I do manage to recycle plastic, paper and cardboard at the Women’s College. As a family we try not to waste water or electricity and take simple steps such as turning the tap off while brushing our teeth or the shower off while shampooing. I think awareness is a major factor and I’m happy that our youngest child, at 3 already knows not to waste water. “I do use some commercial cleaning products but try to make my own out of aromatherapy oils as well. For example, in order to refresh a room, I’ll add geranium, lemon or lavender oil into a water spritzer bottle and spray the room or onto linen. As aromatherapy oils are 100% natural, they don’t harm the environment in any way and are a great way to feel uplifted, refreshed and relaxed. There are plenty of oils to choose from. I sometimes make my own insect repellant using citronella oil. For cleaning the house, teatree, eucalyptus, pine, lemon and many other oils have cleansing, anti-bacterial, antiseptic and refreshing properties. I truly believe in the power of aromatherapy!” “We try not to waste food, although at times we do. With regard to material belongings, I find that things get passed around the community – children’s clothes, books and toys. We receive many from children who have outgrown them and in turn we pass on anything we don’t require anymore. When we moved into our boat, we gave many of our books to Simon’s Bookshop and Library.” Of practices in the UK, Joan says, “There, living in an environmentally-friendly fashion is quite the norm, certainly with regard to one’s recycling. Most households in Britain have specific bins for glass, paper, plastic and ‘waste’ and some have compost and organic bins as well. It is great to see that the UK is doing what it can with regard to recycling. The UAE is making changes too and 15 years ago there was no such thing as a recycling bin here. Now, in Dubai, they are everywhere and even here in Fujairah we have a couple.”