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[smedini]

Hey all

I've been doing a bit of digging and chatting with a couple of people behind the PM screen and have sent a so-far-unanswered query to a UAE environmental group (I just sent it, so I don't expect an answer just yet), but I still wanted to put the question out there...is it easy being green in the UAE?

What kind of recycling facilities exist, both in larger and smaller emirates and what can be recycled? Paper, plastic, glass? Is anyone out there composting? Has anyone heard of any plans to expand on existing services or even create them where there are none?

I must say, the news I've heard so far is a little dismal - I'm hoping the environmental group has more positive things to say - but in the meantime can anyone out there either add to the darkness or brighten my day as to the country's recycling facilities?

Cheers all

Smedini

[umzakaria]

Hi there,
check out gulfnews.com as there is a green initiative feature running (re plastic bags etc).

[mishmumkin]

I thought every emirate operated differently. I never sorted things, but recall someone saying long ago that the Dubai municipality took care of these things. (Take care=do nothing?).

[Iamherebecause]

Short answer: no, not easy being green. Join Emirates Environmental Group, Emirates Natural History Group etc and make a difference!

Here (Al Ain) there are newspaper collection points. On Fridays you see labourers going through the bins looking for drinks cans to sell ... so I bag mine up separately to make their life easier. Don't know of glass recycling. Trash here is normally sorted AFTER collection by hand - nice job ...

UAE produces more rubbish per head of population than many other countries; also consumes more water. Meanwhile it's hard to find the energy use figures on domestic appliances, and I read a car review this weekend in the Gulf News suggesting a familly saloon which did 22 mpg was economical. So quite a long way to go.

Don't get me started on construction policy e.g. the Palms...

[lall]

Dear Iamherebecause,

Good idea that-bagging those cans separately.

I crush them before-hand, too. Makes for easier carrying (for me as well as for the rummaging labourers).

[smedini]

Hey all...

Thanks for the info! I really was hoping for more feedback, but I guess this is it as far as the recycling situation goes in the UAE

Well if the labourers are selling the cans then at least they are being recycled somewhere. We'll do our best to separate the cans and give them to someone - assuming we end up in an emirate where someone can take them, otherwise we'll have to truck them to Dubai - annoying but worth it to keep what we can out of the landfills.

No word on glass recycling, eh? Nor composting? (though I think I've found a solution on that front, at least, with an electric composter you can use in and out of the house so good in a villa or an apartment...it'll help with a modest garden too ).

I do plan to join an environmental group when I get there, though I'm a little discouraged - I've still not heard from the one I sent a query to a few days ago And I'm super sad about the amount of trash produced there and shudder to think of what ends up in the landfill when it doesn't have to. One would think/hope such a forward-looking country would realize the benefits of proper waste management and diversion .

Anyway, all is not lost. At least there's something to work with

Thanks all

[mishmumkin]

[smedini]

Hi Mim;

It can go anywhere, as there is little smell (if you do it right it smells faintly like earth). I've been researching it and I think it's a little louder than the company lets on, but still not so bad that you couldn't keep it under the kitchen cupboard. The company that makes it has a video of it that's quite nice...you can see it here:

http://www.naturemill.com/video_histChan.html

It's a little pricey - almost $400 with delivery to the UAE - but worth it...the compost it produces looks absolutely beautiful and that's sure to be helpful in a little garden, which I intended to have even in a flat...buckets of dirt can grow miracles!

Cheers

[lall]

Hey, raw landfills aren't bad. A lot of insight into how lall and smedini lived lives, for researchers a hundred years from now, really.

I hope you see my point.

Regs.,

Lall.

[Afra]

If you bag up your old newspapers and leave them by the dumpster, someone will take them and make a few dirhams. Or, you can take them to Ikea for recycling as wrapping for their products.

[Afra]

Avoid the Municipality recycling bins as they are a catch-all for rubbish; many people don't understand the concept of recycling. There is said to be a Municipality recycling facility for household rubbish on the Hatta road.

[lall]

The Seef Mall in Bahrain has set itself a deadline (The 1st. of May, if I remember right).

No plastic bags. They propose to use jute bags, which one'll have to pay for. Or one would be required to bring one's own bag for shopping.

Good idea for the environment and beneficial to the jute farmers in Bengal and elsewhere.

[smedini]

Well the jute bags sound like a great idea...with all the shopping that goes on in the UAE I'm sure this will have a positive impact IF we can get more people using them. I was planning on stocking up on loads of totes before I come over so it's good to know I'll be able to get them there.

While I'm not exactly jumping for joy, things are certainly looking up on the 'green' front

Thanks all!

[smedini]

Hurrah!

Good news, all! I just received an e-mail from that environmental group I told you about, the one I contacted a few days ago. The reply was very positive indeed!

I had specifically asked about RAK (as that's where I'd like to end up, I think) and this is what they said:

[veiledsentiments]