5 Reasons to Teach Children the Importance of Recycling

When you give children everything they want and need, it doesn’t take long for them to think resources are limitless. That the fuel for your car will always be available to take them to sports practice, and that even all those plastic containers they use don’t end up in the rubbish collection then the environment. Without education on finite resources and a suffering planet, children won’t make an effort to be more conscientious with how they live their life on this earth. As early as possible, it’s critical to start teaching children about the importance of recycling and living an … Continue reading

Waste Management Perspectives for Egypt

Egypt occupies 7th position in the list of countries with the most mismanaged plastic waste, according to a recent report published in Science magazine. The report was based on data collected in 2010 and one must wonder whether the results of the report would have been different if the zabbaleen had been allowed to continue their work unhindered. A History of Zabbaleen The zabbaleen, or garbage collectors, are the descendants of farmers from Upper Egypt who moved to Cairo in the 1940s. Together with another migrant group, they have made a living in Cairo collecting, sorting, salvaging, and recycling the … Continue reading

Solid Waste Management in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has been witnessing rapid industrialization, high population growth rate and fast urbanization which have resulted in increased levels of pollution and waste. Solid waste management is becoming a big challenge for the government and local bodies with each passing day. With population of around 29 million, Saudi Arabia generates more than 15 million tons of solid waste per year. The per capita waste generation is estimated at 1.5 to 1.8 kg per person per day. More than 75 percent of the population is concentrated in urban areas which make it necessary for the government to initiate measures to … Continue reading

New Fines for Littering in Bahrain

Littering is a common phenomenon both in urban and rural areas of Bahrain. Streets, sidewalks, parking lots, roads and highways are mostly covered with food wrappers, soft drink and water bottles, plastic bags, handbills, cigarette butts, tissues, papers etc. Litter has the potential to cause harm to human health, safety, welfare as well as the environment. Littering can be a fire hazard and it attracts pests and rodents. Litter also cause accidents on roads as drivers avoid litter on road. Litter also harm plants, vegetation and natural areas. The temptation to ‘litter’ is usually motivated by disrespect to the law and … Continue reading

Trash Talk from Gaza

Solid waste management is considered to be one of the most severe environmental and civic problems in the Gaza Strip. Solid waste in the Gaza strip consists mainly of household waste, building debris, agricultural waste, industrial waste (mainly from worksites), medical wastes, and wastes from car workshops. Solid waste in the Gaza Strip is dumped in the same landfill without separation except for medical waste, which is dumped separately in the main Gaza landfill site. The solid waste generation rate varies between 0.35 to 1.0 kg/capita/day. Scale of the Problem Trash generation in the Gaza Strip varies between 830 to 894 tons/day … Continue reading

Best Waste Reduction Programs for Students

It wouldn’t be a big of a surprise to tell that the waste reduction nowadays is more of a necessity rather than a voluntary facility. With a continuous rise of awareness over the need to reduce the amount of waste, students are expected to participate in the programs designed at their educational institutions. What’s clearly seen is that essay sources clearly underline the need in engaging students to become the parts of those green campaigns, aimed to make our plant a safer place for everyone. So, let’s review the following waste reduction programs for students, which have proven of being … Continue reading

Solid Waste Management in Iraq

Iraq is one of the most populous Arab countries with population exceeding 32 million. Rapid economic growth, high population growth, increasing individual income and sectarian conflicts have led to worsening solid waste management problem in the country. Iraq is estimated to produce 31,000 tons of solid waste every day with per capita waste generation exceeding 1.4 kg per day. Baghdad alone produces more than 1.5 million tons of solid wastes each year. Rapid increase in waste generation production is putting tremendous strain on Iraqi waste handling infrastructure which have heavily damaged after decades of conflict and mismanagement. In the absence … Continue reading

VeryNile – Keeping the Nile Alive

Over the last decade we have become increasingly alarmed at the amount of plastic in our oceans. More than 8 Million tons of it ends up out oceans every year and if we continue to pollute at this rate, there will be more trash than fish by the year 2050. By the way, there are 3.5 Trillion fishes in the ocean now. Where does all this waste come from? After analyzing waste in rivers and surrounding landscape, researchers found that most plastic waste comes from rivers; and 90% of this waste comes from only 10 river systems. One of them, … Continue reading

Recycling and Artwork

Art and recycling goes hand-in-hand. Eco-artists are, nowadays, transforming old, recycled and resued object into amazing pieces of contemporary art. The trend started gaining prominence in 1980s when museums and galleries in the Western world opened their doors for such innovation and creativity. In recent years, many artists in the Middle East has started expressing their support for recycling and sustainability through artworks where they merge traditional tone with contemporary themes creating attractive installation art that express local cultural heritage in the larger public interests. Artists are expressing their emotions and ideas through a wide range of recyclables glass, cans, plastics, CDs, PET bottles etc. Installation … Continue reading

Trash Talk from Doha

On arriving a few years ago from a town in the UK that boasts a university course in waste management, and a very efficient weekly recyclable waste collection from our houses, I was a bit shocked, like many Europeans by how difficult it was to recycle in Doha. Having had the moral obligation to recycle drummed into me since I was quite young, I felt guilty throwing away all my waste into one bin, destined to fill up a huge smelly hole in the desert, where it would take a long time, if not forever to biodegrade. The Real Picture … Continue reading

13 Ways to Minimize the Carbon Footprint of Your DIY Projects

Most of us take up DIY projects as a hobby. However, did you know that you can take up DIY projects to reduce the carbon footprint of your home? DIY projects offer you the perfect opportunity to reuse things. You can create things yourself. You can use eco-friendly materials and resources to do so. When you take these steps, it will be easy for you to reduce the carbon footprint of your home. You have to change how you do things. When you plan and use such resources, it will be easy to reduce the carbon footprint of your DIY … Continue reading

The Menace of Littering and How to Solve It

Littering is a common menace one can witness in all urban areas. Streets, sidewalks, parking lots, roads and highways are mostly covered with food wrappers, soft drink and water bottles, plastic bags, handbills, cigarette butts, tissues, papers and others. Littering is most likely to take place at locations where litter is already ‘present’. The Growing Menace of Litter Around 1.9 billion tonnes of litter end up in the ocean every year, which clearly shows that people tend to throw things randomly anywhere, more often than they throw waste in garbage bins. Litter is not just an ugly or an aesthetic … Continue reading