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A green platform to share planet-saving practices in Dubai

Dubai - Swap team is a group of eco-activists from different age groups who have one common interest that binds them together.

Over 100 eco-activists came together over the weekend to share their planet-saving practices at Smile with Alternatives to Plastic (Swap) fair, organised by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) in Oud Metha.
Students, housewives and professionals who are passionate about making the world plastic-free gave live demonstrations of unique initiatives they have invented to reduce plastics and toxic chemicals from their lives.
Swap team is a group of eco-activists from different age groups who have one common interest that binds them together - finding a solution to the world's plastics problem. "Everyone knows about the 4Rs - refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle - but not many people know about the alternatives in their house to ditch plastic. This is why we have brought together creative people from various backgrounds who can demonstrate simple measures to reduce plastics and chemical use," said Sanju Rao, the team lead of Swap.
Teenage youth icon Amitesh Paul spoke about how he educated and established colour-coded waste segregation recycling bins in factories, offices and labour camps in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. He is passionate about protecting the environment and is working towards building a zero-waste sustainable UAE by 2030. Quiz programmes, short films and real-life videos of how plastics are hurting marine creatures and messing up the environment, were screened during the fair.
"In this group of over 80 people, we share, discuss and practice ideas. We find sources/solutions to give alternatives to plastic products of daily use and encourage more and more newcomers to practice of waste segregation at source. Our aim is to educate and involve more people - all of us collect recyclable stuff and whenever we go for recycling, we take along people from different neighbourhoods to show them how and what is being done. This field trip becomes a practical experience for them.
A sense of realisation hits them when they see how they could have recycled so much plastic," added Sanju.
saman@khaleejtimes.com