This presentation talks about the high levels of use in UAE, specifically, of convenience things like paper and plastic and vital natural resource, water! What are its consequences for all of us in medium to long term? That is the subject matter of this presentation...
3. SOME Env Facts
Each person in UAE
450 plastic water bottles in a year 1
200 kg of paper in a year
Global average is 60 kg. India figure - only 9 kg 2
2. 5 kg of waste per day or 912 kg per year3
Uses water 550 litres per day ; one of the highest consumption
in the world3
1
Bee’ah, as cited in The National (2011)
2
Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association, as cited in Gulf News (2011)
3
Bee’ah (2010)
4. Credibility of facts
Source is Bee’ah: In 2011, bagged a 20-year
contract to provide waste management services
in Sharjah by the Sharjah Municipality (Gulf
News, 2011)
Blue and green recycle bins all over the
city...installed by Bee’ah
5. What is the harm…when 45 0
Plast
i
wate c
Plastics in heaps? bott
l es p
r
pers er
on!
Apart from high energy requirement in
production (Pacific Institute ,2006)
6. And Paper… 200 k
g
paper of
pe
perso r
n!
Shade and Paper 35 percent
made of trees felled No shade…!
clean air! Trees for paper 1
1000 kg of paper recycled = 17 trees saved +1,438.5 litres of oil saved (Bee’ah,
2010)
1 Martin (2011)
7. And Water…
5 5 0 li t
e
water rs of
What when taps run dry ? us
each p ed by
erson
This CAN happen. DAILY
…
Because…
Supply LIMITED - We all know that!
Limited natural resources in UAE – processed, desalinized water
but NOT WITHOUT A COST
◦ High Power usage (70 percent cost of water is due to desalinization
(The National, 2012))
◦ Salt Disposal harms sea-life (Aus. Gov, 2006)
◦ Green-house gases emitted (Aus. Gov, 2006)
9. Is the hard work worth it?
Starting a good trend – Feeling of
accomplishment
Relief - cleaning homes and not dirtying our
bigger home, i.e. Earth.
Save fines (Emirates 247, June 13th, 2012)
10. If we know the right facts and
ways, we can be
TREND-MAKERS
Thank
Thank
You!
You!
12. Sources
WECF. (n.d.). Dangerous Health Effects of Home Burning of Plastics
and Waste. Retrieved June 4, 2012, from Women of Europe
towards a Common Future:
http://www.wecf.eu/cms/download/2004-
2005/homeburning_plastics.pdf
California Coastal Commission. (CCC,2011). The Problem With
Marine Debris. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from California Coastal
Commission - Public Education Program:
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/marinedebris.html
Pacific Institute. (2006). Bottled Water and Energy. Retrieved June 6,
2012, from
http://www.pacinst.org/topics/water_and_sustainability/bottled_wa
ter/bottled_water_and_energy.html
Martin, S. (2011, September 10). Paper Chase. Retrieved June 6,
2012, from Ecology Global Network:
http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/10/paper-chase/
13. Sources
The National. (2012, January 19). Abu Dhabi raises green profile.
Retrieved June 6, 2012, from http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-
news/abu-dhabi-raises-green-profile
Australian Government. (2006). State of the Environment 2006 -
Desalination. Retrieved June 6, 2012, from
http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/emerging/de
sal/index.html
Emirates 247. (2012, June 13). Fine up to Dh500 if you waste water in
Sharjah. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from
http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/fine-up-to-dh500-if-
you-waste-water-in-sharjah-2012-06-13-1.462876