The 15^th Clean Up UAE event was conducted for 10 days across 146 locations in UAE from 5 to 15 Dec 2016 by Emirates Environment Group. During the announcement of the event in Sep, EEG Chairperson Habiba Al Marashi had expressed hope to surpass achievements in previous years.

In 2013, 112,000 volunteers collected 100,000kg of waste while in 2015, it was 79,000kg of waste with the participation of 123,000 volunteers. With the increasing awareness, she had expected more than 130,000 people to participate in 2016.

"The problem is lack of awareness. Many residents leave waste behind on purpose out of the belief that cleaners will lose their jobs if they choose to clean up after themselves," said Al Marashi.

The 10-day event was held under the slogan "A United Cause for a Cleaner UAE". With the help of large number of volunteers, the waste left behind in non-designated areas was cleared. The chairperson lauded the sense of responsibility in the community. In addition to the clean surroundings, the exercise also helped improve the air quality, thereby minimising the air pollution and resulting harmful effects on our health and environment.

In 2015, 68 per cent of volunteers came from the corporate sector, 19 per cent from schools and 13 per cent represented families across the UAE. The clean-up covered public spaces including beaches, marine and desert regions. This year more than 125,000 volunteers are expected to have collected over 110 tonnes of waste.

The event ended with the tree planting ceremony on December 15 in Umm Al Quwain. I participated in this event and planted trees. EEG conducts another even called Neighborhood Recycling Programme that targets mopping up the recyclable items in the community and sending them over to EEG for recycling. As a reward, they enable the participants to plant trees in their names for a certain quantity of each recyclable item submitted to them. Participating in the Clean Up UAE campaigns and then moving on to the tree planting event, I have planted nearly 40 trees across all the Emirates in UAE during the past 6 years. 

Next year's campaign will be held under the slogan "Together for a Better Environment".