After writing this piece on ways we can start trying to be more environmentally responsible in this plastic-loving, rubbish-tossing place, I am going to be writing a little eco-tips column for The National's House & Home section on Saturdays. For all my Sigg-bottle carrying ways, I have fallen down badly, eco-wise, since arriving in this country and I vow to do better.
And, of course, Abu Dhabi seems to conspire against me in any efforts I do make. Witness the sudden removal of the Spinney's recycling depot just weeks after my New Year's resolution to recycle each week. (In retrospect, my plan to use a taxi to drop off all my papers, cans and bottles wasn't the most tenable.)
As the piece on the weekend was about doing what you can (aren't they all, really) I realised while writing it that I had to stop getting my daily skinny lattes from the office Gloria Jeans in paper cups and switch to my mug instead. So to much ridicule (and a bit of uptake from several nice colleagues) I encouraged our newsdesk to shift. I have been doing this for several weeks. Then, Ismeal, tea boy extraordinaire, returned from his extended leave back home in Bangladesh and insisted, as he does, on getting my coffee for me. This is what he brought back - and what he continues to bring back because I feel weird telling him I don't need the lid.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
How to be a happy expat
Because a cloud wall makes you want to take a selfie. After 10 years living in the UAE, some of that time happy, some miserable and ...
-
"It had pizza sauce on it, which I wasn't anticipating." -colleague, after a bite of a "slice"
-
Because a cloud wall makes you want to take a selfie. After 10 years living in the UAE, some of that time happy, some miserable and ...
-
It really hit home how much my perspective has changed since moving to the Middle East when Nicholas Sarkozy, the president of France, said ...
1 comment:
Hello AM
I had to make a quick comment. I understand that you are trying to reduce your impact on the Earth but to expect Ismeal to carry a hot liquid without a cover would be an unsafe act. Not only could he burn himself or another but also could create a spill that someone might slip on. Maybe you could simply convince him to reuse the previous days lid.
Mike
Post a Comment