Author Archives: Rehan Ahmad

About Rehan Ahmad

Rehan Ahmed is currently working as Head of Waste Disposal Unit at Supreme Council for Environment, Kingdom of Bahrain. He has over thirty four years of professional experience on projects related to waste management, recycling, reuse and recovery & environmental impacts assessments. Rehan has been instrumental in construction, development, operation and management of Hafira industrial landfill site and establishment of healthcare waste treatment facility in Bahrain.

Tips for Hot Water Conservation in Households

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The use of hot water in homes, offices, commercial centers, educational buildings and institutions increases manifolds during winter months. The demand of hot water for showers, laundry and washing makes up more than a third of an average household’s water and energy use in winter. The conservation of energy is essential as the cost of both electricity and water is increasing steadily and the consumers will have to pay more for energy and water bills. The main areas of hot water usage in residential areas are bathroom and kitchen. Bathing consumes up to 200 liters of hot water, depending on … Continue reading →

Guide to Green Shopping

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With the advent of December, many festivities, celebrations and seasonal parties are planned globally. These events require feverish shopping leading to usage and wastage of more resources. In addition, December is also famous for the shopping mania that grips people from all walks of life. ‘Shopping’ is certainly one of the most famous ‘indoor sport’ being practiced equally by people of developed and developing countries depending on their life style and budget and is mainly being done by the female gender. ‘Going green’ is a way forward for all of us as it is a lifestyle change including improving our … Continue reading →

A Message on Earth Day

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Earth Day has now grown into a global environmental tradition making it the largest civic observance in the world and is widely celebrated event in which over one billion people from over 190 countries will participate by taking suitable actions for saving our mother Earth. The Earth Day was first organized in 1970 to promote respect for life on the planet and to encourage awareness on air, water and soil pollution. Each year a different theme or topic is selected. The theme of Earth Day 2018 is ‘End Plastic Pollution’. Plastic pollution is poisoning our oceans and lands, injuring marine life … Continue reading →

An Urgent Call to Reduce Food Wastage in Ramadan

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The month of Ramadan witnesses a great rush of frantic buyers who are buying and storing food items and allied commodities. Unfortunately, Muslims countries, especially Gulf nations, generate huge quantities of food waste which increases manifolds during the month of Ramadan and festivals like Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha whereby the consumption and wastage of food increase at an alarming level. Firstly, the food habits change in the month of Ramadan whereby Sahoor or breakfast/ meal is taken early in the morning. Later after sunset Iftar/ Fatoor (opening of the fast) is taken usually with specially cooked food, … Continue reading →

Food Waste in Ramadan: Trends and Counter-Measures

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Muslims countries, Arab nations in particular, generate huge quantities of food waste which increases substantially during the month of Ramadan. As per conservative estimates, around 15-25% of all food purchased or prepared during Ramadan find its way to the garbage bin before even being used or consumed. Food Waste Trends in Ramadan The trend shows that during Ramadan, the demand for beef, mutton, chicken and related meat products increases by almost 50% of the normal demand, which in itself is very high. Similar is the fate of other related food items like vegetables, fruits and dairy products etc. which are … Continue reading →

Ramadan: A Catalyst for Green Living

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The true meaning of Ramadan is to take care of our body, soul, people, surrounding and ecosystems. The month of Ramadan is a golden opportunity to make a real shift towards ‘green living’ that is environmental friendly, non-polluting, non-wasteful and aim towards conservation of natural resources. During Ramadan, let us create awareness on use of resources, think and act positively towards our environment and change our unfriendly habits which are impacting our ecosystem. Let us seize this opportunity to adopt a model for a green and environmentally responsible behavior that addresses urgent environmental issues. Ramadan witnesses an over-consumption of meat, … Continue reading →

Reusing Textbooks Can Repurpose Knowledge for Needy Students

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For every academic term or semester, thousands of new textbooks are being printed, bought and used. On the other hand, almost the same number of textbooks and course material are being discarded after its use and find its way to the garbage bins ultimately landing at the landfill site where they are being buried, compacted and disposed occupying precious land area. Usually these textbooks are not being reused or recycled generating huge quantities of paper waste. In many of the private schools, the textbooks have to be bought in every term due to change in edition or minor revisions putting … Continue reading →

The Menace of Plastic Water Bottles

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It is common to see people greatly misuse plastic water bottles considering it free, taking a bottle, sipping it half and throwing it away. These used and partially consumed water bottles are then collected and thrown away in municipal garbage bins from where  it is collected and transported to landfills and waste dumps. These water bottles thus have a high carbon footprint and represent enormous wastage of precious water source and misuse of our other fragile resources. In many cases, these water bottles are being littered around the commercial and religious places. Plastic water bottles are a common feature in … Continue reading →

Water Scarcity in Bahrain

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Bahrain is listed among the top ten countries that are likely to suffer from a water crisis in the next 25 years. The World Resources Institute (WRI) have estimated that 33 countries, half of which are in the Middle East, would suffer from a severe water crisis by 2040. According to the study that included 167 countries, the top ten countries that would face water crisis by 2040 are Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The finding shows that the Middle East is already probably the least water-secure region in the world as it … Continue reading →

إجعل رمضانك أخضر

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في شهر رمضان نشهد إختلافاً كبيراً في العادات والأنشطة اليومية سواء من عادات الأكل أو الصلاة . وتأتي الدعوة لعدم الأكل والشرب من شروق الشمس إلى غروبها في هذا الشهر لتعزيز قدرات التحمل البدني والعقلي، وفهم الصعوبات التي يواجهها المحرومين ممن ليس لديهم ما يكفي من الموارد لتلبية حاجاتهم الأساسية. ويتجلى المعنى الحقيقي لشهر رمضان بتنقية أنفسنا مع الحرص على صحة الجسم، والروح، وعلاقاتنا الانسانية  بالإضافة إلى علاقتنا مع النظم البيئية التي تدعم وجودنا على هذه الارض. شهر رمضان هو فرصة ذهبية للتفكير في إمكانية التحول نحو “نمط الحياة الخضراء” الذي يتمثل بأسلوب حياة صديقة للبيئة، تتجنب التلوث والإسراف، وتهدف … Continue reading →

Energy Conservation in Bahrain

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Bahrain has one of the highest energy consumption rates in the world. The country uses almost three times more energy per person than the world average. Based on 2014 statistics, the country consumes 11,500 kWh of energy per capita compared with the global average of 3,030 kWh. The country is witnessing high population growth rate, rapid urbanization, industrialization and commercialization with more visitors coming in, causing fast growing domestic energy demand and is posing a major challenge for energy security. The Government is aware of this challenging task and is continuously planning and implementing projects to enhance the energy production … Continue reading →

The Menace of Plastic Water Bottles

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Plastic water bottles are a common feature in urban life. The availability of water bottles is common and the cost is affordable by all sections of the society due to which its use and misuse has increased manifolds with time. People also provide it for free in mosques and other public locations. It is because of its easy availability that people misuse this resource considering it free, taking a bottle, sipping it, consuming partly and leaving it at the venue or throwing it in garbage bins. Empty and partially consumed plastic water bottles are collected and thrown away in municipal … Continue reading →