United Arab Emirates is a clean country. By and large people do not litter generally. Roads, Malls, Pavements are usually sparkling clean. Apart from the awareness by the people, the municipal authorities also makes a great effort by cleaning 24/7. Early morning & late in the nights you will notice the cleaning machines & workers working tirelessly to keep the country clean. Also there are hefty fines for violators that deter the people from littering.

There are exceptions to all rules. The UAE population is crazy for off road adventures, Barbecue on the sand dunes etc. All this experience is on the outskirts of the city. Many people do clean up after they enjoy the food & drinks. There are dust bins around. But there are some unmindful lot who litter & do not dispose wisely. The surroundings becomes dirty. Over a period of time the garbage mounts. Keeping such vast areas clean is a challenge as the country side of UAE is vast, sprawling hundreds of kilometers. Municipality do perform massive clean-up operations & awareness in these areas as well.

But, this is not the sole responsibility of the Municipality only to keep the city clean & green. Many other Government Organisanions & NGOs are very active in raising the awareness among the people to keep the surroundings clean. They organize many events, drives & lectures to teach not to litter & dispose wisely. Bee?ah in Sharjah is very active in this regard & Emirates Environmental Group [EEG] in Dubai is an NGO with accredited Status with the UNCCD, UNEP. Member of UNGC, IUCN and GEF - NGO Network.

EEG organizes annual clean up campaigns in all 7 emirates of the UAE. It is dubbed as Clean up UAE. The organisation identifies the dirty areas in all emirates & target to clean that area with hundreds of volunteers armed with a big garbage bag, Glove & a cap & T-shirt. They manage to collect hundreds of tons of garbage & hand over to the relative municipalities for appropriate disposal.

The past week 06-12 Dec the Clean-up UAE drive was organized throughout the UAE. There are many active EEG members associated with Tunza Eco-Generation. It is nice to see them around or hear about their activities.

I have participated in this exciting drive on 12-Dec-14. This is my 5^th year of participation in the Clean-up UAE a row. On a lazy weekend, it is exciting to join a likeminded group of hundreds of volunteers & perform a clean-up action.

Such actions speak louder than words & I believe that this gives a message to the public not to litter & dispose wisely. Else, it may be their child picking up the can or Plastic bottle carelessly thrown by their dad on a weekend bash at the same place.

Over the years, I?ve noticed a larger participation by the local Emirati population in such drives as they are becoming more aware to the environmental damage caused by such irresponsible behavior.

As usual, we were instructed not to pick up natural vegetation like shrubs, sticks, dry leaves etc. as they are usual part of the natural recycling process & must not be disturbed by such human actions. We pick up Paper, Plastic & Glass Bottles, Cans etc. only.

This time I choose Ajman as the clean-up site as I have already Done Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Sharjah & Ras-Al-Khaimah in my past 4 years of association with this drive. Thus in 5 Years I?ve covered 5 emirates out of 7 in the UAE.

It gives immense satisfaction & pride to give back something to the society from where we have taken so much in return. I am proud resident of the UAE & thank the EEG for proving me another opportunity to serve for the country.