Circular Economy | Goumbook's Zero Waste Initiatives & Beyond

Mohammed Mahmoud on the social and environmental implications of water security in the Middle East

Chirag — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 06:00:57 +0000

We’re joined today by Mohammed Mahmoud, Director of Climate and Water Program at the Middle East Institute, one of the oldest Washington DC based think-tanks dedicated to the study of the Middle East and its issues.

We talk about his role at the Middle East Institute studying the region, and to understand the issues we’re seeing both globally and in the region as a result of climate change.

Mohammed has an extensive background in water resource issues and management, such as how climate impacts on the Nile River and policy issues among nations sharing the water, and a project in Saudi Arabia to formalise their ground water management code.

This episode is part of our special series, Climate Leaders – Rising up to COP28. We’re sharing inspiring stories of sustainability leaders and climate champions, driving impact from our region to the world.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with MasterCard. Join the #PricelessPlanetCoalition movement with Mastercard to help restore 100 million trees around the world by 2025.

Sheikh Dr Majid Al Qassimi Discusses The Nexus Between Soil Health & Food Security

LID — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 11:09:00 +0000

Welcome to the first episode of our new series, Climate Leaders – Rising up to COP28. We’ll share inspiring stories of sustainability leaders and climate champions, driving impact from our region to the world. We’re joined today by Sheikh Dr. Majid Sultan Al Qassimi.

Until 2021, Dr. Majid was the Advisor to the Minister regarding all things Food and Agriculture, at the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. He’s now a founding partner at Soma Mater where they develop Food Security and Sustainability strategies and solutions for private sector and governments. We talk about his journey to becoming a climate leader, food security and the importance of soil, and his expectations for COP28.

A special thanks to the Dubai Government Media Office for their support of this special series, which is also where we recorded this conversation.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Mastercard. Join the #PricelessPlanetCoalition movement with Mastercard to help restore 100 million trees around the world by 2025.

Introducing: Climate Leaders – Rising up to COP28

Janelle Lopez — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 10:31:21 +0000

We’re excited to announce a special series, Climate Leaders, Rising up to COP28, in partnership with Mastercard.

To mark the ‘Year of Sustainability’ here in the UAE, and in the lead up to the country hosting the 28th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP28) later this year, we’ll be sharing inspiring stories of sustainability leaders and climate champions, driving impact from our region to the world.

Joining host Tatiana Antonelli-Abella for this announcement is Roberta Calarese, the founder of Ghaya, a strategy consultancy aiming to transform businesses into a force for good. They discuss the importance of purpose, and of leadership to drive purpose.

Ep.48, Think Tank – Towards Responsible Tourism: Best Practices from the UAE

Janelle Lopez — Wed, 24 May 2023 04:17:09 +0000

Our latest Think Tank, “Towards Responsible Tourism: Best Practices from the UAE” was held at the Arabian Market a few weeks ago. The Think Tank focused on gathering perspectives from different stakeholders driving impact across a variety of initiatives in sustainable & responsible tourism from the UAE, highlighting Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism’s efforts with the recent relaunch of its carbon calculator and 19 sustainable requirements aimed at placing Dubai at the heart of sustainable tourism.

Our host Tatiana Antonelli moderated an expert panel with:

Myrna Ayad: Cultural Strategy & Art Advisory
Vignesh Balasubramanian, Area Director of Engineering, Marriot
Kelly Timmins, Director – Marine Animal Operations & Sustainability, Atlantis Resorts
Cameron Cairns, Managing Partner, Terrax

The Think Tank was held with with the support of Dubai Department of Economy & Tourism and Dubai Sustainable Tourism, and the Arabian Travel Market 2023.

JSS Private school students volunteered to collect cigarette butts

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 08:14:04 +0000

With the largest group of volunteers participating in Save The Butts, 75 students left school early in the morning on World Oceans Day on June 8th, to learn about the circular economy program. The 16 years old students collected 4,600 cigarette butts from Sunset Beach in Dubai after the Goumbook team ran the awareness session on plastic pollution, ocean conservancy and circular economy.

June 8, 2022 | JSS Private School Beach Clean-up

Top 10 Circular Economy Facts That Promote Zero Waste

admin — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 08:41:15 +0000

The circular economy is an innovative economic model of production and consumption that is increasingly being adopted by governments around the world, including the UAE. It is important to understand the principles and systems that make circular economy effective in addressing today’s economic and environmental challenges.

Save the butts Circular Economy process

A circular economy is the opposite of the linear economy where people take from the natural environment, make something out of those from nature into consumable products – and then dispose them, which end up as waste.
Circular economy means the products that are being created under this system can be used again and again and would not require more or new raw materials from the Earth. Our current lifestyle has demanded using more than 60% more resources than the Earth can provide, and in the process those products made mostly end up in landfills as waste.
The things made and consumed under the circular economy are designed to minimize the use of natural resources, as well as reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some of the ways being implemented in this system is repairing, recycling, and redesigning so the product can be used again in one form or another.
The end of life of the product people have bought are not buried in landfills but sent back to the economic system by reusing the materials used on those products as much as possible.
The circular economy is estimated to be at a value of US$4.5 trillion by 2030. This means the system can provide new sources of income and job opportunities for many.
To become a success, consumers, businesses, and governments should all commit to making the change and adopt the circular economy principles.
The circular economy does not apply only to products. Ways of optimizing spaces can also be considered circular economy practices such as multiple uses of homes, offices, and buildings, turning an office space during day for example into a community centre or night school.
Sharing resources particularly in the transport sector such as vehicle sharing support the circular economy principles because it reduces the use of more vehicles on the road as well as the demand for more private vehicles which require huge amount of earth materials, water, and energy in the manufacturing.
Recycling, which converts waste materials into new materials and objects, has its limitations in driving a more robust circular economy because it still requires energy and water use to make new objects, which impact our natural resources. Redesigning products that last through several cycles and refurbishing old products and redistributing them can be more useful in a circular economy.
The origins of the circular economy dates to 1966 but it has catapulted as a growing important model to deal with ever-increasing challenges in the early 2000 when material resources have become more expensive and difficult to acquire for manufacturers. Today, the pressing issues of climate change makes it imperative for economies to rethink their ways and adopt the circular economy.

Saving Dubai’s last surf beach with Surf House Dubai and SWS Board Technology

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 07:53:55 +0000

We have to say that we are really proud of the surfing community in Dubai. We were lucky enough to witness how involved they are in protecting the ocean and the beach. This particular cleanup was really important for them as they are protecting the last surfing beach in Dubai, located next to Burj Al Arab. And for Save The Butts this cleanup had by far the largest collection of cigarette butts conducted under 1 hour. This group of 73 kids and adults collected a staggering amount of 23,200 cigarette butts. We were amazed once we got to find out the numbers.

June 11, 2022 | Surfers Community Beach Clean-up

ITP Media Group employees gathered on World Oceans Day to collect cigarette butts

admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 06:15:52 +0000

For the second time this season, ITP employees gathered on World Oceans Day to collect cigarette butts, this time on a different spot. They decided to contribute to keep Jumeirah Public Beach clean, where tourists stop to take nice photos of the Burj Al Arab. With 12 highly committed volunteers, we were able to remove from the beach 3,750 cigarette butts. It was a great opportunity to show also to the tourists visiting Dubai how residents care about the ocean and how engaged they are with local environmental initiatives.

April 12, 2022 | ITP Media Group Beach Clean-up

Save the Butts: Earth Month’s Cigarette Butts Clean Up Event

admin — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 06:55:53 +0000

Our latest initiative, Save The Butts – waste to value – is having very strong beginning! Almost 200 volunteers, from individuals to companies, joined the cleanups. During the Earth Month community cleanups, which were sponsored by Ocean Conservancy, we were amazed by the level of engagement people has when joining the initiative. A total of more than 13,000 cigarette butts were collected from the beach.

April 17, 2022 | Goumbook Earth Month Community Beach Clean-up

April 23, 2022 | Goumbook Earth Month Community Beach Clean-up

Al Mawakeb Students volunteered for the Save The Butts initiative

admin — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 06:24:38 +0000

A group of 17 volunteers cleaned Kite Beach from 3,500 cigarette butts. Their incredible commitment to protect the environment and the ideas they brought really impressed us.