Pupils’ campaign reduces disposable bag usage

Mohammad Al Khoury, a 12 year old Emirati boy and dozens of his friends were able to minimise the use of about two tonnes of ‘Oxo-biodegradable bags’ at the Abu Dhabi outlets of a major retail chain. About 60 pupils including Al Khoury were speaking to customers at the cash counters of 12 Lulu supermarkets on weekends during the past three months about the negative environmental impact of using disposable bags. “That resulted in the reduction of about two tonnes of disposable bags at the 12 outlets during the past three months. Inspired by the results we are extending the campaign gradually to our 103 outlets in the region, aiming to reduce at least 50 per cent of a total 100 tonnes of disposable bags used a month [in all outlets],” said V Nanda Kumar, Corporate Communication Manager of Emke Group, which runs the largest retail chain in the region. He said the group started using ‘Oxo-biodegradable bags’ instead of plastic bags two years ago. “These bags disintegrate within six to 12 months whereas plastic bags take more than 100 years or longer,” Kumar said.“Joy Bruelhart, the wife of the Swiss Ambassador to the UAE, who is also an environmental activist, approached us to initiate this campaign involving school children,” he said. Bruelhart told Gulf News that although Oxo-biodegradable bags are better than plastic bags, they are still harmful to the environment as they require a lot of energy to make, won’t degrade in landfills and may leave toxic leftovers . “They are not the solution. The solution is using reusable bags,” she said. She said the campaign involving school pupils will help mould a generation which takes responsibility of conserving the environment. A formal campaign to extend the mission across the region will be launched today (Friday) at Lulu hypermarket at Khalidiya Mall in Abu Dhabi in the presence of important people including government officials, Kumar said. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has also extended its support to this campaign, he said. Al Khoury, a seventh grader at The British School of Al Khubairt, said female customers were more receptive to their awareness talks at the cash counters. Amyr Hamza Shaikh, 16, an 11th grader at The International School of Choueifat, said middle-aged and old people and families were more receptive. “They were willing to listen and reduce the use of disposable bags.” But some younger people, mostly single men and women in their 20’s and early 30’s were not willing to listen, he said.from gulfnews.com