Ramadan Kareem from Sustainability Tribe! The Holy month of Ramadan is the month to reflect and practice kindness! Kindness, not just towards the others but also towards our Mother Nature! Letting go of your bad habits and developing good habits is a big part of observing Ramadan, then why not make your Ramadan more sustainable? Let’s be mindful of the effects of our actions on the environment & our surroundings this Ramadan.
Here is your quick guide on how to make your Ramadan Eco-friendly and how to minimize our environmental impact during Ramadan.
WAYS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE IN RAMADAN
Ramadan is the time to gather with family and friends for Iftars, but while doing so let’s not forget those 870 million people in our world who go to bed hungry. The staggering statistics show that food waste during Ramadan increases by 30% in the UAE. When we waste food, we also waste natural resources invested in growing, transporting, storing, and cooking that food. We all need to ask a question to ourselves when humanity is fighting the hunger problem, how appropriate is it to waste food?
So then how can you reduce food waste especially during Ramadan? Here are some ways, these tips can be applied throughout the year.
At home
- Make a list of grocery shopping and stick to it to avoid excess shopping.
- Don’t buy perishable items in bulk just because there is a good Ramadan deal.
- Try to go grocery shopping after having a meal. I practice this myself & it has helped me a lot to reduce excess food shopping.
- Practice Empty Fridge Day at your home to reduce food waste in the fridge. I have had an amazing success rate in reducing food waste at home by following the empty fridge day.
- Cook meals in sufficient quantity, try to avoid cooking in excess.
- Buy local and seasonal produce to reduce the carbon emission of transport and storage.
- It’s ideal to cut down fast food to help improve your wellness during the holy month.
Iftar Buffets at Restaurants
- If you want to go for Iftar Buffet, opt for restaurants that are making efforts to reduce food waste & promote sustainable food. Read here a great example of Dubai restaurant at Pullman Deira City Center, which has installed technology from Winnow solutions to reduce food waste in their kitchen.
- At an Iftar buffet, when you see a great spread, it’s difficult to control your urge to tasting numerous items. Just make sure that you are serving yourself a smaller portion to reduce the food waste. It’s better to get up from your table and walk up to the Iftar buffet a few more times than wasting food. These serving breaks will also help you judge your appetite more correctly and will help you in reducing overeating.
- Give attention to how much food your kids are serving themselves on their plates. Most of the food on the children’s plate at the buffet gets wasted. It is a great opportunity to teach them about food waste and be mindful of it.
RAMADAN DONATION
Donating is a big part of Ramadan. So try to donate to charities and NGOs which do environmental conservation work along with other humanitarian charities. Many charities keep donation drop-off boxes in many malls in the UAE, where you can donate most of your unwanted stuff like clothes, books, toys, shoes, bags.
Many people do cleaning up of their homes before or during Ramadan, so don’t throw away your unwanted items. Find these charity boxes and drop off your donations. Read here the list of charities in UAE where you can donate your unwanted items.
Ramadan Sharing Fridge
With the aim of inspiring people with a small act of kindness, Ramadan sharing fridge initiative is started under the umbrella of Emirates Red Crescent, Open Arms UAE, and with the help of the community to help our less fortunate community workers and laborers to have access to free food and drinks during the month of Ramadan. Basically, anyone can set up a Ramadan fridge and register with the initiative. The fridges are then pinned on google map and anyone in the community can donate food and drinks in preferably pre-packed portion sizes and fill up these fridges. Each fridge is emptied and filled up to 20 times a day. And it takes several donators to fill a fridge so your help is precious.
You can find more about this initiative and how you can contribute through their Facebook page here.
ZERO WASTE RAMADAN
ur tribe has started the #ZeroWasteUAE Initiative and I would urge my readers don’t forget to keep it going even during Ramadan to make it a ‘Zero Waste Ramadan’. Here are some very Ramadan-specific waste-free tips for you.
- Ride public transport and catch up on your sleep. This way you can reduce carbon emission & waste of resources.
- If you are hosting Iftar, ditch single-use disposable plastic, and Styrofoam containers, plates, cups, cutleries. Instead, use eco-friendly disposables made from bamboo or palm wears or paper, or even better use reusable items.
- If you want to shop for Ramadan and upcoming Eid, invest in reusable, recyclable, and sustainable goods. Don’t forget your reusable shopping bags at home.
- Buy as much local produce or produce from nearby countries to reduce the carbon footprint of your food.
- Start a ‘Zero Waste Iftar challenge’ and spread it among your friends and family.
- Use energy-saving lamps in your Ramadan lanterns and Eid decorations
- Be vigilant to close the ablution tap and reduce wastage of water.
- Switch off appliances after use like lights, AC, etc.
The mass iftar meets in UAE can create large plastic trash. Selecting paper disposables and keeping recycling bins nearby can help to reduce this plastic waste.
GREEN EID GIFTS
There are sales and discounts in all the shopping malls in the UAE during Ramadan. Many people go gift shopping for Eid during Ramadan. If you want to make your Ramadan and Eid celebration Eco-friendly, you need to even choose Eco-gifts. For Green Gifts inspirations, read our detailed sustainable gifting guide.
Eco-friendly Eid Gifts can include locally produced items, gift vouchers of sustainable brands. You can find here is a list of some Eco-friendly products available in the UAE which can help you staring a sustainable lifestyle. My top recommendation for gifts are below,
- A houseplant to improve the indoor air quality of the home.
- Dubai Lamp, the world’s most energy-efficient LED lamp, can help you save you up to 90% of energy than traditional lamps.
- Reusable personal items like a tote bag, coffee mug, water bottle, etc. Find more ideas of reusable items, which help ditch single-use plastic items and reduce waste.
I hope you will find these tips helpful in greening Ramadan or host greener iftars. What could be a better time to start a sustainable lifestyle during this month when you are practicing self-control?