Don’t Mess with Dahab – An Introduction

No matter where I were in the world right now, I’d be writing about the same problem – trash –  because it’s not just the streets and shores of Dahab that are littered with rubbish. Travel to coastal cities around the world and you’ll find many of the beaches in much the same state. Cairo and other places in Egypt are also dealing with their own problems of waste management.

There always seems to be a lot of talk about the obstacles we face in dealing with this problem: Garbage collection services provided by the city government are inefficient. Dumpsters are sparse and broken, causing the trash to be scattered along the road by the wind or hungry goats and sheep. The blame often gets laid on the people in charge of dealing with our trash; rarely do we take the blame ourselves.

It’s time we stop for a moment and consider what we, as individuals, can do without the assistance of waste collection services, whether they are private or public. Because if there’s one thing we can control, it’s the amount of trash we each produce. If each of us “throws away” less rubbish, there will be less rubbish for the wind to blow around, less rubbish for the goats to scamper through, less rubbish finding its way into our seas and deserts, and less rubbish piling up in the streets waiting for someone to clean!

If you’ve participated in a clean-up event or had a closer look at the piles of rubbish lying around, you’ve probably realized that a lot of our trash is plastic. There are a lot of environmental and health problems associated with plastic and for the sake of humanity’s well being, we cannot wait any longer to do something about the sheer amount of plastic polluting our earth.

Learning how to use less disposable plastic is something I’ve been working on personally for the past several years. Last year, I began writing the Don’t Mess with Dahab blog to share with others what I’ve discovered. Now, I’ll be contributing here on EcoMENA and I’ll be sharing ways that each of us can reduce our use of plastic. While I won’t be able to suggest specific stores, restaurants, or companies like I do on Don’t Mess with Dahab, I will be sharing ideas for alternatives to single-use plastic bags. I’ll also discuss the different types of plastic, the problems associated with each, recyling plastics and more. As we’ll see, these strategies will not only benefit the environment, but also your health and your wallet, as many of these tips will save you money.

It is my hope that my blogs will help us all become more aware, more responsible, and more pro-active when it comes to our personal health and the health of our environment.

And if you’re wondering where the title of my blog, Don’t Mess with Dahab, comes from, well, that’s the Texan in my heart, who remembers with fondness the Don’t Mess with Texas anti-litter campaign. Sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, the campaign was quite successful and over the years the phrase ingrained itself into Texan culture. It’s a matter of pride. And while my blog is not focused on litter exactly, I called Texas home for 9 years of my life and the phrase Don’t Mess with Texas still puts a smile on my face.

So let’s all be proud of our home, native or adopted, wherever we are in the world and work towards making it a cleaner place!

Refuse ~ Reduce ~ Reuse ~ Recycle

WordPress Blog: http://dontmesswithdahab.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DontMessDahab

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About Bernadette Simpson

Bernadette Simpson, M.Ed., is an educator and author currently living in Dahab, a small town in Egypt's South Sinai. Inspired by her passion for nature and desire to improve the local environment, Bernadette began researching and implementing ways that individuals can reduce their own plastic footprint. In 2013, to help raise awareness about the problem of plastic pollution, she began writing the Don't Mess with Dahab blog, which focuses on strategies and practical advice on reducing the amount of harmful disposable plastics in our world. Visit her website, www.bernadettesimpson.com, to learn more.

2 Responses to Don’t Mess with Dahab – An Introduction

  1. mike holmes says:

    great story, thank you!
    im in the business of waste to energy and have been invited to cairo.
    i was simply researching some history and saw your writing.
    great!

    respectfully,

    mike holmes

  2. Noha Mahmoud Mohamed Ibrahim says:

    My name is Noha, I live in Dahab, i am a creator of popular initiative since 15 years awaring poeple not to litter, please support me, 01227932741

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