After several months of living in Abu Dhabi, I’m finally – in my mid 30s! – becoming a responsible citizen.

So I’m reusing plastic bags and where possible I use only one bag. It drives the lady at the checkout crazy as I end up with ten stickers on each bag of veggies, but it saves plastic.

When I go to the mall I’ll ask the fancy stores to save their branded bags, and instead I use the same one for all of my purchases.

I’ve started recycling the plastic water bottles that I use every day, either dropping them off at nearby waste recycling bins or reusing them myself when I go to the gym.

At home I’ve cleared out all of my clutter, setting aside items that I think others might be able to reuse – most of these I’ve donated to St Andrews’s thrift shop.

Unfortunately, I can’t take any credit for these changes in my lifestyle. I’m just borrowing these initiatives from the many inspiring individuals we’ve featured in the magazine over the past six months.

Most of them are children, which is especially good news for our future. Hopefully you’ll remember the true celebrities amongst them: ‘The Paper Bag Boy’, Cameron and his ‘Save the Camels’ campaign, Maddi Mellish and her ‘Kits for Kids’ collection, or our own mum about town Laura Fulton who is continually finding charitable organisations and community groups that collect used items for good causes.

So is Abu Dhabi Week making me a better person? Maybe. But the people of Abu Dhabi certainly are.

Megan Wynes