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NRP is one of EEG’s most sought-after summer programmes

and is specifically targeted towards the student community. The

programme runs from June to September and gives students

an opportunity to involve the residents of their communities

to start their own recycling initiative under EEG’s guidance.

Participants are required to involve 20 other families in the

project. Through this activity, students collect one or all of the

eight main recyclable materials within a span of two weeks.

Since its inception in 2011, NRP has attracted an increas-

ing number of participants. From just 28 participants in

2011, the summer programme has steeply risen to 177

participants in 2014 with a total outreach of over 10,000

individuals. The increase in participants has also enabled

EEG to collect more recyclables over the years. Since incep-

tion EEG has managed to mitigate 722 metric tonnes of

emissions, save 4,622 million BTU of energy and 815

of landfill space, and save 5,114 trees from being felled.

As well as reducing the amount of waste going into

landfill, the collecting and recycling activities create aware-

ness among the students and residential communities.

Furthermore, recycling prevents unsustainable use of land

by landfilling these otherwise useful items.

The OROC programme, which began in 2010, takes

place in September, October and November each year and

is another endeavour to increase sustainable green urban

spaces through tree planting initiatives that are interlinked

with waste management. Participating organizations are

requested to send in recyclable items to EEG. Through this

campaign EEG has planted trees across five Emirates over

the course of five years and aims to plant in the remaining

two Emirates in the years to come.

Since inception EEG has managed to mitigate 2,532

metric tons of CO

emissions, saved 18,472 million BTU

of energy, saved 3,396 m

of landfill space and saved 12,724

trees from being felled. On accomplishing the goals, EEG

has planted a total of 1,430 trees over five years. The trees

act as a carbon sink and prevent land degradation, which

in turn helps combat desertification.

EEG believes that corporations have a moral obligation

and duty to protect and preserve the forests of the globe.

The actions of a company have vast effects, whether posi-

tive or negative, on the environment. Education and action

are the most proficient ways to achieve this. Towards that

end, in 2008 EEG started the Together We Plant campaign.

Hosted under the umbrella of the For Our Emirates —

We Plant initiative, Together We Plant targets two spokes:

spreading awareness and acting on the gained knowledge.

The campaign aims at hosting tree planting initiatives by

corporations across schools in UAE. In that way, compa-

nies add to the sustainable green patch by planting trees in

schools, helping to educate the youth about their impor-

tance and how a simple act can have a lasting impression

on the environment.

2014 saw a number of tree planting initiatives under

the Together We Plant campaign. With the cooperation

of organizations and educational institutions across UAE,

EEG planted a total of 245 indigenous trees which will help

mitigate 1.45 metric tons of CO

upon maturity.

Such tree planting initiatives are of vital significance in

educating the youth about the importance of trees and the

various benefits which trees provide. The total number of trees

planted to date through EEG’s various waste management and

Under the Planting a Greener Future initiative, tree planting events were held in government schools across UAE

Images: EEG

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