Many of the capital’s residents will be giving up chocolate or hitting the gym as their 2015 New Year’s resolution, but a new initiative by Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) will promote green resolutions via a new social media campaign.
Residents in the capital are being urged to post their green New Year’s resolutions through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, with the hope of creating a more environmentally friendly attitude. Those who post should use the hashtag #MyGreenResolution which will allow EAD to collate all posts for the campaign.
Abu Dhabi produces an estimated 12.1 million tonnes of solid waste every year. That is roughly 2kg per person per day – that’s the weight of a small laptop. From this solid waste, 12.5 per cent can be recycled.
Commenting on the campaign, Fozeya Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, director of the environmental outreach division at EAD, said: “With a fresh turn at the New Year, we want to remind ourselves of the beauty and fragility of our environment, and the necessity to make a commitment for a sustainable future with our unique personal touch, be it big or small. Using the viral nature of social media, we hope that this message spreads far and wide.”
EAD has released 20 tips that the public can adopt for a greener lifestyle. These can be found at www.ead.ae on the press centre page. Here are a few of them:
Green New Year’s Resolutions
Use energy-saving light bulbs as an alternative to regular ones. A 20-watt energy-saving light bulb provides the same light emitted from bulbs with a 100-watt capacity. Their lifespan is six times that of ordinary incandescent bulbs.
If you leave your TV or computer on standby overnight, it uses almost as much electricity as it does when it’s switched on. Remember to turn it off and unplug any cables at the wall.
Use rechargeable batteries. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury and lead which are harmful to the environment when disposed of incorrectly. Reduce the number of batteries that you throw away by recharging them.
If you know you’re going to be parked for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine, otherwise you’re idling. Ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.
