Lately, I’ve met so many individuals who want to go green and reduce their carbon footprint, but what gets in their way is a lack of knowledge; they don’t know where to donate or where to send in the scrap materials from their homes for recycling in Dubai.
For instance, the alternative to donating is to get creative and re-design your old clothes with DIYs, but donating them can also significantly reduce your carbon footprint [since they have a longer life cycle and lead to lesser waste]. According to the Bureau of International Recycling:
.. a single kilogram of collected used clothing can help reduce up to 3.6 kilograms, or almost 8 pounds, of CO2 emissions.
Let’s not forget the substantial help that you can lend to those in need by donating your old things. The following is a hands-on guide for donating in Dubai to make sure your intentions become quick actions:
1. Enviroserve – Green Truck:
It is a perfect example of ‘go green’ on wheels. The green truck works with a simple online subscription for your community.
They place a bin in your area where you dispose the waste. They then collect the trash after a week. It is an excellent way to make sure your neighbourhood is clean regularly.
The segregations of wastes include: all varieties of Paper, Plastic, Glass, Metal and Metal Cans in addition to used and broken Electronics.
Register with a green truck here.
2. Take My Junk:
Although your first alternative to scrap/junk in your house should be reusing it or getting creative [For instance, you can turn your old bedsheets into tablecloths with a few stitches], but if not, give ‘Take My Junk’ a ring and that’s exactly what they do.
Whether it’s a pile of old clothes, used electronics and unwanted goods, all of this is given to the labourers from low income brackets at an affordable and low price.
3. Dubai Cares:
One of Dubai’s most popular donation sites. You either donate a sum online or via their boxes in different areas all around Dubai. They place boxes in malls during the holy month of Ramadan and other occasions. The donations made are predominantly for old clothing.
Dubai Cares also reinforces their efforts at collection when there have been natural disasters or crises in neighbouring countries.
4. Aid in Motion:
The event is run by Volunteer in UAE. For now, it only operates during times of crisis to support the affected nations by natural disasters or in other time of need.
“Area Collection Representatives” who are dotted around the city. The ACRs are responsible for sorting out the donations made in categories before the final purpose is served.
5. The Pink Ribbon Book Sale:
Don’t worry -it’s not all clothes. We’ve got you a donation site for the unwanted books stacked up in your homes too. The Pink Ribbon Book Club takes donations via the boxes placed in BurJuman mall, Bur Dubai. They then place the books for purchase in the Pink Ribbon Book Sale which takes place every year.
The proceeds from the sales go towards the breast cancer charity-Safe&Sound Campaign. The SSC funds free mammograms for women who are financially less fortunate. So much good from so little.
Additionally, there are donation boxes in neighbourhoods such as The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Arabian Ranches etc. where donations can be made almost all around the year.