Saudi Gazette The Saudi Environmental Society (SENS) in cooperation with the municipality of Jeddah and SITCO launched a “recycling campaign” that exchanges recyclable waste for a small amount of cash. The event sponsored by Prince Turki Bin Nasser, President of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment, commenced last Friday amid grand festivities, sports and art activities for children at Amira Park (AP), and will continue until May 17. To encourage recycling, a person instantly receives a cash prize, gifts, or eatables when they drop off neatly separated and cleaned recycled items at the counters. The recyclables are collected every Wednesday and Thursday at both Faisal Sports Park (FSP) and AP in southern Jeddah. “We were surprised by the enthusiastic and wonderful feedback we received from the mothers, children, and men who attended the festivities last weekend. Almost 1,000 visitors attended the event last weekend. Saudi Arabia participates in the World Earth Day every year and this year the Kingdom is driven by the theme: Protect the earth and it will protect you,” said Majda Aburas, deputy executive director of SENS. “This program was created to strongly encourage all families to sort out items at home that can be reused and recycled by companies and manufacturers. Volunteers from SENS and from the park actually showed children and parents how to separate different recyclable items. There are lots of fun shows, drawing contests, and games that both entertain visitors and educate them on important environmental issues,” said Aburas. “Different-colored and durable garbage bags are being distributed at the two parks for families to take home and collect their recyclables. Each color is designated for a different item: glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum cans. Visitors were reminded to rinse out the plastic milk, juice bottles and the soda cans and neatly pack the recyclables in the colored bags before exchanging for money. We have a huge weighing scale at the park on which each bag is weighed, and accordingly the family receives cash and a gift as a token of appreciation for recycling,” said Lubna Ahmad, managing supervisor of SENS. Ahmad added that the campaign is intended to increase environmental awareness in the society, reinforce the importance of recycling, and to get more people to actively participate in the protection of our environment. The mayor of Jeddah, Hani Abu Ras, attended the event, he said, that for a whole month a number of activities will be organized that aim to strengthen the Saudi culture's concern for the environment. Abu Ras said, the municipality is sending teams of gardeners to schools throughout the city in order to plant saplings and seeds to make Jeddah's schools greener and more environment-friendly. “Another unique idea that has sparked the interest of young visitors is designing and creating artistic sculptures made 100 percent out of recyclables. At the end of next month, all entries will be put on display at an exhibition where best entries will be eligible for valuable prizes,” said Abu Ras. Such initiatives are definitely beneficial, but facilitating recycling for only one month is not enough to save the city from the environmental deterioration it has been witnessing in recent years. “Abu Ras has informed us that the municipality is already planning to install a permanent collection site for recyclable items in FSP and AP in the southern districts of Jeddah. An agreement has been signed between the municipality and private sanitation companies to make this recycling project feasible and successful,” said Ahmad. Ahmad explained that Jeddah residents can separate their recyclable items at home and conveniently drop them off at the park to be recycled. The planning and designing phase is already under way, although the exact date is yet to be set. “Recycling is a great way to clean up our city, reduce pollution, and make some money at the same time!” said a young a visitor. Cash is not the only reason behind Jeddah families who have opted for recycling. They are aware of its tremendous benefits, such as every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees. The energy we save when we recycle one glass of bottle is enough to light a light bulb for four hours. __
