Today I,  as a member of our school Eco-Committee , went for a workshop cum seminar by Dubai Electricity & Water Authority(DEWA). This workshop was to spread awareness among students, parents and teachers of around 10 schools who were present there.  Mr. Ali Muhammad (Marketing & Communications department -DEWA Head office , Dubai) gave a nice presentation on why & how to save energy and water.

The biggest challenge for us in UAE is to save energy and water due to the following horrifying statistics:

1.       After USA and Canada , UAE is the world?s 3^rd largest consumer of water . While average water consumed in any other part of the world generally is 22 gallons /person , in UAE it is 78 galloons/person.  51% of world?s desalination plants are considering to build their operations in GCC to cater to demand. GCC has earmarked more than 100 Billion USD for new water projects for 2011-2016.

2.       Dubai is the world?s 2^nd highest producer of carbon footprint . This is mainly due to inexpensive /affordable car and specially petrol is available at much much lower price than anywhere else like Asia , USA etc.

The workshop was held at Kindergarten Starters, Dubai. It started with small presentation by very very young (grade3-5 ) children on how they save energy & water.

One of the kid said he has contact with 7-8 countries like Singapore , Canada , India , Nigeria where he keeps talking to young envirnomentalists and keep asking them how they save energy & water.

Pressure cookers use less energy than regular pots and pans.

Someone said ? I do NOT change clothes many times a day means less clothes to wash and dry ?.

Other kid said ? I /our family wash fruits & vegetables in bowl rather than washing under running water?

One young boy said that they have two switches in their classroom –red switch and green switch for different amount of power equipment.

Someone mentioned that he goes to Terrace for studying when sun comes/rises.

Another boy mentioned that in his state , every part of Coconut tree is recycled.

Some interesting  points /tips for saving energy & water I would like to share with you as follows:

Use sensor taps and sensor lights.

Use less water for car wash.

Use water coming out of sink after dish washing or clothes washing for watering the plants.

Incandescent lamps are the worst and energy hoggers. They should NOT be used at all. Dubai is going to ban the use of these lamps from 2014 onwards.

 CFL lbulbs( compact fluorescent light bulbs) are still better in terms of energy consumption . They use 50 percent less energy and last much longer than incandescent bulbs. but their biggest disadvantage is they contain mercury, a neurotoxin, which is released into air and groundwater when the bulbs are thrown out. This mercury can cause skin cancer. Mercury containing CFL lamps should be taken to special recycling centres for their safe disposal. Also one should not walk closer if you see broken CFLlamp. The best are LED lights.

Few of the DEWA?s successful campaign are as follows:

1.       Neighbourhood Campaign   : As part of the Neighbourhood Campaign, a team from DEWA is visiting residential communities throughout Dubai in a specially-designed bus to communicate the awareness programme and inform residents as to how they can save electricity and water.
This initiative falls under DEWA?s strategic plan to educate Dubai?s inhabitants about the importance of energy consumption by explaining how we all can protect our resources to build a sustainable future for generations to come. DEWA has put in place a time table for visits around Dubai, in order to reach the maximum number of residential communities, mosques and shopping malls. The Neighbourhood Campaign includes a variety of programmes aimed at reaching a large number of the community on ways of managing energy consumption.

2.       Peak Load campaign : to encourage lower consumption of electricity and water during summer months. The 'Peak Load Campaign'  raises awareness and educate DEWA's customers on the importance of avoiding the use of electrical appliances and devices during the peak load hours between 12𔃍 pm. DEWA has to increase its power generation capacity during these hours resulting in higher consumption of fuel and increased gas emissions.

The campaign informs residential consumers how they can help reduce this strain on generation by limiting to off-peak hours their use of electrical devices such as electrical irons, washing and dryer machines, dishwashers, water heaters, and electrical ovens. The campaign also urges commercial and industrial customers to shift their less-critical energy operations from peak times to off-peak hours. The load shifts  invariably saves fuel used in power generation, and facilitates the conservation of natural resources and reduces emissions.

Air-conditioning represents as much as 60% of the load during peak time consumption. By reducing air-conditioning even marginally, it is possible for consumers to not only lower their electricity bills but also increase the overall reliability and efficiency of the electrical system.

If every consumer  turns down the air-conditioning in their homes or offices from 20 degrees Celsius to either 23 or 24 degrees during electrical peak hours, this will considerably reduce energy consumption. By adopting such a small measure, it is possible to save thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions.

3.       ?Do good to Planet earth? home appliances campaign- to spread awareness about the importance of choosing environmentally-friendly home appliances which can help significantly reduce water and electricity consumption. This supports the strategy of the Government of Dubai to create a sustainable future for the Emirate and reinforce its position as a global hub for finance, business and tourism. DEWA is taking this further by providing special tutorial sessions on various appliances available in the market, and how they can aid in reducing electricity and water consumption.

Then came the discussion ?what causes Global warming?. Factors discussed were

1.Carbon Emissions

2.Deforestation-cutting of forests increases carbon emissions and lowers the level of pure air.

3. Population Boom-puts pressure on limited resoources like desalination plants-which furthers increases inflation. (price of water bottle and other things).

Then we discussed ?how can we reverse the effects of Global Warming?. Following few tips were given :

1.       Fix leaky faucets and pipes-Statistics show that dripping tap consumes 256 litres of water every month.

2.       DON?t throw fats /oils/greasy stuff down the drain.

3.       Install aerators and faucets in all the taps around your houses.

4.       Install dual flush tanks

5.       Make use of table lamps rather than switching on the chandeliers.

6.       Instal LED lighting

We then chatted with students of a school in Karachi , Pakistan over videoconferencing. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to ask them questions and give replies to their questions during this interesting videoconferencing.

Overall it was an informative , educative and interesting workshop.

At the end of workshop , DEWA officials gave us nice Blue coloured foldable , sustainable bucket which is symbolic and is given to convey the message that we should use bucket of water for washing car rather than using hose .