'Gulf News' has been a part of my growing up in UAE as one of the leading newspapers of the region. Ever since I started school, nearly for the past eight years, I have been the messenger, to carry the newspaper from our doorstep to my Dad, before leaving for my school.

I am concerned to see that 'Gulf News' has started coming, wrapped in a plastic cover. At first I though that it was temporary trial after some other thick paper envelop packaging that was used for a short time. But now that I have seen it this way for almost an year, I thought of bringing it to the attention of the concerned people of the management. As an eco friendly paper wherein I always read articles promoting environmental conservation, I was disappointed to notice the use of plastic. Perhaps this would have been a result of their efforts to make sure that all sections of the paper reach the subscribers well packed and intact. Possibly the plastic used for wrapping is made from recycled plastic. However, I am still not able to justify the use of so much plastic, considering the wide readership of the paper.

Recently I also came across a thick brown recycled paper bag packing of the '7 Days', another newspaper that is distributed free in the region. I was really impressed with the packaging and wrote to the paper appreciating their initiative.

I have also written to 'Gulf News' to request them to reconsider their packaging and I look forward to see 'Gulf News' in an environment friendly packing in the days to come- perhaps paper bags made out of old newspapers or recycled papers or any other suitable greener solution, instead of plastic.

I am waiting to hear from them in this regard and also hoping that I will not have to take 'Gulf News' wrapped in plastic for long, to my Dad!