Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

For the last few weeks, I have been on a 'recycling and reusing wastes' spree. Our small store room was cluttered with cartons and other items we had stored during our move from Muscat to Dubai. I was thinking of ways to dispose them off, but then I thought, it is better to reuse and recycle them rather than accumulating heaps of waste that would harm the environment. I had a hoard of plastic bottles and containers, cartons, papers and cardboards. I didn't know what to do with them. I began to search the web for ideas to make them useful. I used the cartons to make toy storage boxes for my child. I separated the papers into categories such as magazines, newspapers, office papers and cardboards. Accordingly I would use them for different purposes. I planned to use newspapers for paper mache, magazines for different decoupage and collages, cardboards for craft etc. I would reuse the plastic bottles as organisers or for storage containers and I sorted them out based on their size and types. 

As we talk about recycling the waste from my house, the 3 'R's of the environment needs to be introduced or perhaps reintroduced to many of us:

• Reduce means reduce the amount of waste produced. For example buy products with less packaging. Read news online instead of buying newspapers since most of the news is available online.
• Reuse products as many times as possible. Reuse shoe boxes, milk containers, cans etc. for craft or storage.
• Recycle means creating new products out of materials from the old ones. Things like paper, aluminum can,  plastic grocery bags, etc. can be recycled so drop them off into designated bins by the municipality so that they can be recycled.

As per a report, UAE ranked third in the world with the biggest ecological footprint per capita in the world. Each member of the population generates about 2.5kg of rubbish each day. Most of the waste ends up in the landfill. 

I searched on the net for initiatives taken by the UAE for recycling waste and discovered that although recycling waste seems to be a new concept in the UAE, it already has a recycling program in place. For more details, you can visit their site. I have often spotted bins outside many villas, wherein two wheeled-bins  have been placed. Green bins for recyclables example: paper, plastics and cans, and black bins for non-recyclables like food wastes. This is part of the initiative undertaken by the Dubai Municipality so as to recycle three-quarters of Dubai's refuse by 2018.

A good initiative for separating and sorting the waste can be witnessed at the fuel stations in Dubai. There are four bins installed and labelled as general waste, cans, plastic and paper waste, which helps in segregating the waste at this point itself so that they can be processed further without any hassle. 

Separate bins for general waste, cans, plastic and paper waste

Finally, I ended up looking at the repository of pictures in my laptop and found these pictures wherein some waste-to-best efforts were taken by the Municipality of Muscat in 2014 at the festival venue in Amerat Park. They made an excellent effort to make the best use of the waste generated, making used of used plastic bottles, CDs, used tyres, wire scrap and more.

Recycling ideas from Muscat Festival 2014 - an initiative by the Muscat Municipality

Plastic bottles turned into flower-pots

Plastic bottles assembled into flower pots

Screen made from plastic bottles

An animal replica made from iron scrap

A hanging holder for flower pots made from old tyres

Recycling used CDs into a flower decoration

An old tyre converted into a pot holder

A tree ensemble created from plastic bottle twirls

Do share what initiative does your city take to recycle the waste generated. Do leave your comments and ideas below my post. Awareness regarding recycling of waste is a must for every citizen. Every individual plays a small but an important role in reducing the carbon footprints on this earth and to make this earth a better place to live for the coming generations.

Wadi Darbat from my Salalah Diaries

Darbat and Drishyam complement each other! Whenever, I remember this place called Wadi Darbat, I always have beautiful visual memories or 'Drishyam' of this place. No I am not talking about the latest Bollywood thriller 'Drishyam' here but about a beautiful location in Salalah that is a visual delight to anyone who visits Salalah. Wadi Darbat is a beautiful natural park located in the Dhofar region in the outskirts of Salalah in Oman.

By the way, 'Drishyam' in Sanskrit means a visual or a sight. And yes, I will be mentioning Drishyam many a times in this post since I watched this enthralling movie just a couple of days back. 

Now talking about Darbat, we didn't know that such a beautiful place did exist in Oman, until we visited this site. It was sometime dated back in September 2011 when my parents had come over all the way from India to visit us in Salalah. They missed the active social life in India and their friend circle since Salalah was not the kind of place where you would find many people around in your neighborhood. Luckily, though we were fortunate to have the company of very good neighbours - an aged but jolly good couple from our native place. My parents enjoyed their company during their short stay in Salalah. 

Out of the many trips we had, this trip was planned by our friendly neighbours who also escorted us and we truly had an enjoyable experience: A beautiful 'drishyam' to be treasured!

The greens as we approach Wadi Darbat

I don't remember how long it exactly took us to reach this destination for all the while we were occupied with laughter and chats with our friendly neighbours. This wadi was around 40-45 km distance from our residence in Salalah. We passed through mountains covered in lush greens, and when we reached the destination we were simply astounded by the view that greeted us - a wadi with a water body. Imagine seeing an oasis in the midst of a desert. But then as I mentioned in my earlier posts, Salalah is one place which turns green during the Khareef season; the brown mountains get covered with greens and its wadis are filled with water.

As we reached there, we spotted a few tea stalls along the roadside and the parking lot. It was around 5:00 pm in the evening, the weather was awesome, with the temperature, not exceeding 28 degree C.  We had carried our tea thermos and before we proceeded further ahead with our exploration, we gulped down some hot tea with a few titbits. The bank of the wadi was strewn with a few tents here and there; with some people relaxing and enjoying with their families and friends while some were paddling their boats around in the wadi waters. We too rented a boat and paddled ahead into the waters absorbing the greens around us. It was a memorable experience as we absorbed the vast greens around us and paddled our way ahead into the waters exploring the wadi. My feet ached after paddling for some 30 minutes continuously but then as they say 'no pains, no gains'. After the trip, we ended up with a wonderful dinner cooked with lots of love and effort from our good old neighbours. 

The food stalls by the roadside

The view from our water boat 

The river bordered by trees and greens

As we approach the tents along the bank

The view of mountains from our water boat

The hidden view behind the trees

Wadi Darbat is a beautiful and peaceful retreat in Salalah. It simply leads you away from the hustle and bustle of the city life, providing a very soothing and relaxing environment. It would be nice once in a while to escape to such tranquil environs; to escape from the daily grind, from weekend obligations, household chores and errands, to unwind and relax with your family members in a calm setting like this wadi. 

Just an afterthought, they should have shot this movie Drishyam here in Darbat, Salalah. Maybe some movie will be shot some day in this very location. Someday, Someway!

Magsail Beach from my Salalah Diaries

It has been a few months since we relocated to Dubai, but memories of Oman still linger in my mind. So, while I was organising my files and folder in my laptop I came across some pictures of Salalah, which were so beautiful that I had to share it here. While, it is hot and dusty here in Dubai, many people seek respite during the holidays by visiting nearby locations and one such popular destination is Salalah. Just rummaging through the pictures brought me the much-needed respite from the heat of Dubai!

It is Khareef season in Salalah. Khareef in Arabic means autumn but for Salalah and Dhofar region, it refers to the monsoon. The Khareef season lasts from June to September and the region gets its annual rainfall then. The entire region turns into a lush green area and its mountains are covered with fog. An enchanting and memorable experience for us and thousands of visitors from abroad who visit Salalah during the Khareef season. 

This particular beach is a must visit for anyone who goes to Salalah during any time of the year. Every time that we visited this beach, the roaring waves and the misty mountains, have always kept us enchanted. I can still remember sitting on the wooden bench there and absorbing the cool breeze from the sea, enjoying the beautiful views and relaxing my mind.

Here, are some pics I found in my folder which were clicked during our visit to the Magsail beach in Salalah, a popular destination for all, tourists and residents alike.

For more information on Salalah and places to visit you can check out my earlier post - A Glimpse of Salalah - Loved, Laughed and Lived!