Abu Dhabi City Municipality teaches its employees how to reduce consumption on Paper-Less Day. [image via: hunflickr]
Generally known worldwide as bureaucratic, red tape repositories for paper forms, municipalities do not have the most eco-friendly reputation when it comes to paper consumption. (In fact, some environmentalists may claim that all those paper forms are wasteful and unsustainable.) So a couple weeks ago the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City decided to take its green reputation into its own hands by staging a “Paper-Less Day”.
The Paper-Less Day included an educational campaign and informative presentations attended by the municipality staff in order to promote environmentally and socially responsible use of natural resources, such as paper.
The campaign’s goals were to:
- Educate employees about the importance of reducing paper consumption
- Transform the municipality offices into eco-friendly spaces
- Curb greenhouse gas emissions resulting from excessive paper use
- Advocate for a change in employee attitudes towards paper conservation
This was not the first ecological campaign launched by the municipality. The Abu Dhabi City Municipality has previously launched other campaigns to promote the recycling of paper, plastic and metal waste.
Salah Awad Al Sarraj, the Acting Executive Director of Town Planning Sector at the municipality said that “participation in the campaign stems from the Municipality’s values to conserve the environment and nature, and its commitment towards future generations through setting an example to be emulated in making utmost efforts to improve the quality and standard of living in Abu Dhabi city. The process of recycling paper, plastic and metal at the main buildings of the Municipality has been completed through providing custom-made containers at various locations to facilitate the sorting of waste, and the Municipality has also contracted with a specialized agency to recycle these wastes in an environment-friendly manner.”
Read more about Abu Dhabi::
Shell Abu Dhabi Dons a Green Mask and Sponsors Annual Environmental Competition
Rebuilding Abu Dhabi’s Coral Reefs One Disc at a Time
Abu Dhabi Eco-Chicks Organize Green Drinks Event
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
