Last week, we conducted an Iftar Handout for the poor labourers working under the scorching heat of the summer and our noble work was also published in the national daily of UAE (Gulf News).

        Dubai, often called the Jewel of Arabia, is known for its marvellous beaches. A large number of tourists and residents flock Dubai's beaches throughout the year. As a result, the waste generated on the beaches is tremendous :(

Hence, on the 11th of July,  ? We Care?  organized a Beach Clean Up along with its members.  

     Firstly, I distributed gloves, black polybags and other equipment for the Clean Up.

After that, I lectured them on the importance of a Clean Up on Dubai Beaches. I also told them that cigarette butts would be the most common form of waste we would find on the beach. I informed them about the various dangers posed by cigarette butts on the beach. Cigarette butts are covered by a kind of plastic called cellulose acetate which holds together substances such as benzene and nicotine which are extremely harmful to the marine environment. Marine organisms often choke and die if they consume such substances. After telling them this, they realized the purpose of the Clean Up. We divided our group of 13 volunteers into groups of two's and three's. We spread out over the beach and decided a spot where we would meet after an hour.

       After an hour, we poured the wastes we collected into one basket.We were shocked at the number of cigarette butts we found on the beach!    It was a reality check for all of us! We poured out all the wastes into the recycling bins on the beach.

  Surely, everyone went back home with a sense of environmentalism and concern for Mother Nature :)