In the UAE

Earth Day: UAE Restaurants that are Environmentally Friendly

Published

2 years ago

April 22, 2019

Yara K

You may think that one straw, one plastic can, or one water bottle won’t make that big of a difference, but you are unfortunately wrong. Every single-plastic use leaves an impact on our environment, whether it ends up in the ocean or burned, both ways our environment gets severely harmed.

The following list are of restaurants in the UAE that took it upon themselves to try and limit this harm, from banning straws to limiting plastic use, they are doing their fair share of environment saving.

1- La Petite Maison

The restaurant has replaced plastic straws with an eco-friendly one that is made from potato starch. The place also hopes to soon replace all the single-use plastic with stainless steel substitutes.

2- Rove Hotels

The hotel is on the road to full sustainability, and they have even recently won the Green Key Eco-Label Award. The impressive part is the kind of encouragement that the Hotel does; in order to push visitors to act environmentally. So for instance, on Sundays, the hotel offers customers who bring their own bottles, discounts on food. And then, the restaurant sends these bottles off for recycling, where they get turned into actual useful products.

3- Zuma Restaurant

The Japanese restaurant Zuma has banned plastic straws, and is now substituting them with biodegradable paper straws. This initiative isn’t limited to the Dubai branch, but rather a step that is taken across all Zuma branches globally.

4- Armani Hotel- Burj Khalifa

The Hotel partnered with Winnow, to provide them with ways that they can use in monitoring and reducing their food wastes.

5- Renaissance Downtown Hotel

The hotel aims at riding the ocean of plastic, and has successfully become the first restaurant in the Middle East of substitute plastic straws with ones that are made from pasta!

Founder David Myers says, “being someone who loves spending time in the ocean, I witness the consequences of our overuse of single-use plastic first hand. I like to think that by stopping the use of plastic straws, we are making a small mark right here in the UAE.”

More and more restaurants should begin to follow the steps of these places, it may seem like a small initiative but the impact is certainly huge on the environment.

Going sustainable should become a lifestyle, a choice, and a commitment to a cause.

In the UAE

Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena Will Welcome Back Visitors on November 20

Published

2 weeks ago

November 18, 2020

Yara K

Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena has announced the return of its live shows, in respect to safety procedures of course and a new protocol called ‘Venue Shield’.

The venue will welcome back audiences for the first time since February this year as OJ Lifestyle presents their Dark Knights Edition 1.0 event.

The arena first opened its doors last year in June, with many celebrities making headlines including Russell Peters and Maroon 5.

Now the arena is ready to welcome back visitors with a new protocol called ‘Venue Shield’ which includes cleaning procedures, social distancing across seating and concourse areas, disinfectant and fogging machines used across the arena, thermal cameras and hand sanitizer dispensers across the arena.

“We are very pleased to be able to provide live entertainment to the community of Dubai again, and we are excited to welcome the OJ Lifestyle team to Coca-Cola Arena on November 20th,” said Guy Ngata, CEO of Coca-Cola Arena.“There has been a tremendous amount of work implemented across many sectors in Dubai to get to this point, and we are pleased to now open our doors again with the safety of our guests of the utmost importance.” He added.

“It’s critical that we assure people they are attending a safe environment allowing fans and artists to enjoy an amazing live experience, which we are confident will be the case,” Ngata continued.

Tickets for the November 20 show are on sale at the Arena’s website.

Coca-Cola Arena urges fans to only attend a live event if they feel well. “It is important that fans are vigilant of their own surroundings and responsible in relation to their own well-being and that of others, in line with the consistent messaging communicated by the government of Dubai over the past months,” Ngata said.We’re excited for the reopening of the venue and can’t wait to see which international star will take on the stage next!

In the UAE

UAE Announced the Relaxing of Islamic laws to Promote Personal Freedoms

Published

3 weeks ago

November 8, 2020

Yara K

The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday a massive overhaul of the country’s Islamic personal laws, which will allow unmarried couples to cohabitate and loosen the restrictions on alcohol and more.

This aims at broadening personal freedoms as the country is positioning itself as a Westernized destination for tourists. These reforms will boost the country’s economic and “consolidate the UAE’s principles of tolerance,” said state-run WAM news agency.

These changes is also a reflection for the efforts of the Emirates’ rulers to keep up with the rapidly changing society at the UAE.

The amendment will allow for “cohabitation of unmarried couples,” which has been criminalized before in the UAE and in an attempt to “protect women’s rights,” the government will also get rid of the laws that defend “honor crimes,” a widely criticized tribal custom in which a male relative may evade prosecution for assaulting a woman seen as dishonoring a family.

What do you think of the UAE’s move in adapting with the current changes that the country is facing?

In the UAE

Dubai Set to Launch Several Sustainable Projects For A Greener World!

Published

4 weeks ago

November 3, 2020

Yara K

Dubai has proven all the time its keenness on leading a sustainable life and on October 31st, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum looked at some interesting projects that are likely to transform Dubai into the ultimate destination for environmental sustainability.

Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai took a look at four new upcoming projects: the Green Dubai Project, the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary development, a public beach development, and the Dubai Center for Waste Processing project.

In a statement, Sheikh Mohammed said, “The UAE is committed to implementing innovative projects that optimize the use of resources and solve critical challenges as part of the country’s strategy to ensure environmental sustainability. A key element in the UAE’s development model, environmental sustainability is reflected in all initiatives and projects launched by gov’t entities, independently or in partnership with the private sector. Sustainability is key to the UAE’s future-readiness.”

The Dubai Green project will be build along the city’s Al Mamzar Creek and will be an open garden that shall be developed over the next four years. The project will cost around AED 2 billion and will contain lots of greenery and exotic flowers.

Besides having new beached and heavenly greenery, Sheikh Mohammed also shed the light on the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary project, which will preserve and develop biodiversity and ecosystems across the emirate.

The largest project so far is the Dubai Center for Waste Processing, which might be built in Warsan. It is set to be one of the world’s largest waste processing plants, and will work to achieve some of the most efficient processing and energy generations across the city.