Earth Day awareness in UAE

Al Wahda Mall celebrates Earth Day

Abu Dhabi, April 13, 2015: In a bid to encourage residents to become more responsible towards the planet, Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi has organized activities from April 9 to April 25, 2015 to mark World Environment Day which is being held all over the globe.

While tree plantation and clean-up drive, workshops, talks and seminars will be held across the world, UAE residents can do their bit for a cleaner environment by taking part in the Make Our Planet Green campaign currently underway at Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi.

Over the years, Al Wahda Mall has adopted many environment friendly measures to help reduce carbon footprints and become more energy efficient. For instance, the Adiabatic Cooling System installed in the air cooled chillers helps cut down the electricity consumption of the air conditioning system. Another useful energy saving measure is Sun Reflective Films installed on the mall's Roof Skylight. It helps reduce the heating load from radiant heating which in turn saves power and reduces carbon footprints. Waterless urinals installed in the restrooms help save over 400,000 gallons of water per year. Moreover, 20 per cent of the lights in the mall have been replaced by LED bulbs this year, and by 2017, the entire property's lighting will be replaced with energy saving LEDs.

"We want to educate people about how they could contribute towards a greener planet by organizing activities they will enjoy taking part in," said Mohammad Nauman Thakur, General Manager of Al Wahda Mall.

"With such initiatives, we believe in connecting with the community and we would like everyone to come here and take part in the 'green drive'. Everyone should be responsible and do their bit for a cleaner planet," he added.

The event which took off on Thursday April 9, will run over consecutive weekends until April 25. Hundreds of visitors thronged the activity areas on the opening day of Make Our Planet Green campaign in Al Wahda Mall. Scores of visitors were seen planting saplings, painting, sketching and various other activities.

"I had visited the mall with my young ones. It was nice to see them getting close to nature and learning about their responsibility towards a greener planet. They had fun planting saplings which is not something they usually get to do," said Filipino Maria Guiterez, an Abu Dhabi resident who works in the marketing department of a multinational company.

In the central atrium of Al Wahda, there is a greenhouse set up for people to plant saplings which they can take home after the activity. They have to register to take part in the plantation initiative. Participants also have to take part in an activity wherein they have to paint a portion of a large globe kept in the mall's atrium. The objective behind this is to have the entire globe painted in green by April 18 which is Earth Day.

The other activity, Green Earth Sketching Contest is taking place in the Fashion Boulevard and First Floor extension of the mall. Visitors have to register to participate for it. It requires them to sketch their version of an eco-friendly earth. The sketching will be done on eco-friendly paper.

The winners of the contest will be announced on April 30, 2015. The best sketch will win an Al Wahda Mall shopping voucher worth AED 5,000 and the runners-up will get a shopping voucher of AED 2,500.

From April 16 to April 18, an entertaining mime show will also be performed in the Central Atrium, Fashion Boulevard and in the extension on the Third Floor of the mall. The act will be interesting to watch due to its environment-based theme.