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Plastic

Dubai’s Sustainable Kidswear and Toys Directory

Posted on December 11, 2024

Did you know that an average child uses over 200 pieces of clothing! Babies will outgrow 7 clothing sizes in their first 2 years, which is not sustainable at all.

The $200 billion global kid’s clothing market is growing faster than adult’s, expected to reach nearly $300 billion by 2030. 180 million+ pieces of kids clothing go to waste each year. That’s not all, most modern textiles exact some form of environmental tax. Regular cotton is grown using pesticides, but organic cotton must often be shipped consumes lots of water. Plus, human-made materials like nylon and polyester come from petroleum. Toxins also get involved in the spinning, dyeing, and overall production of many fabrics, which contributes to the release of greenhouse gases and can leach toxins into the soil and water supply.

But there is hope… for used outfits and items that remain in good condition, there is a thriving secondhand market for children’s clothing, toys and equipment here in Dubai, both on and offline.

Christmas is as we know, a very consumer heavy holiday and we could all be more mindful with the gifts we buy in order to make them more sustainable. For me, that means shopping local, ethically minded brands of course, and I get asked a lot of questions about just who and where I recommend for tots and babies here in the U.A.E., so have compiled a list of my favourites for you:

Ideal for clothes:

Beaux Desert

Beautifully made collections for the whole family using eco-friendly materials and ethical manufacturing practices

Birdsn’Bees

A local family concept store specializing in clothing, beachwear, and swimwear

Little IA

The perfect place for personalized gifts for little ones

Atlas & Maya

Exclusively creating collections using certified sustainable materials

Baby Bazaar

A monthly circular pre-loved pop-up at Times Square Centre, Dubai

Reloved

A marketplace for buying and selling second-hand clothes, baby items, furniture, accessories, and more

Bump and Baby

A pre-loved maternity & baby store

Ideal for toys and equipment:

Made By Nature

Dubai’s only family concept store offering sustainable brands

Little Ones Arabia

Premium sustainable baby products, clothes and gift hampers

Maisontini

Experiential showroom and sustainably minded concept store

Eggs n Soldiers

Natural & eco-friendly baby products

Monki Box

Sustainably designed bilingual purposeful play program

Secondful

A secondhand online marketplace for pre-loved kids and baby gear

Secondgear

A secondhand online marketplace for pre-loved kids and baby gear

The Clean Beauty Brand At Sephora You Need To Know

Posted on December 5, 2024

The beauty industry impacts us in a whole range of environmental ways, Saie is Sephora’s newest clean beauty brand to really focus on a sustainable future.

Current practices can deplete natural resources, damage oceans, hurt wildlife, and produce harmful microplastics. One of the biggest challenges the beauty world faces is post-consumer packaging waste.

But what’s the answer?

Well one way is using more sustainable packaging, which is typically made from materials that are either biodegradable or recyclable. This includes materials like glass, paper, cardboard, metal, and certain types of plastic, like bio-based or plant-based plastics.

Saie, Sephora’s newest clean beauty brand, focuses not only on clean, good-for-you ingredients, but has also established their own ‘Saie Climate Initiative’ to take direct action to combat climate change.

“As a lifelong lover of Mother Nature, I believe it is our duty to be responsible for the impact we at Saie make on the planet. This unprecedented commitment is our way of taking action, because action is the only way to enact change. I know this is just the beginning, and I couldn’t be more excited to start this journey.” – Laney, Founder & CEO of Saie.

Saie is also committed to cleaning our planet of plastic waste through a three-year partnership with rePurpose Global. This initiative targets the impact of global plastic waste on communities while also investing in women’s development and empowerment. To put it into perspective, their goal is to reduce existing plastic waste by the equivalent of 120 million single-use plastic bottles that eventually end up polluting our oceans.

As well as production changes, Saie are also working towards net zero across all supply chain emissions by 2039 with the following:

Shipping Boxes
Kraft mailers are biodegradable and 100% recyclable.

Cartons
Their product cartons are 100% Recycled FSC-certified paper made in a carbon-neutral facility.

Cotton Balls
Their cushy, comfy cotton balls aren’t just for removing makeup; they actually use them as padding for the inside of the packages.

Paper Tape
Saie use kraft paper tape to safely secure all of their products in transit. The glue on the tape is made of water-activated cornstarch.

Eco Friendly Sustainable

Thankyou, Consumerism Reimagined

Posted on November 29, 2024

We all shop, we shop for what we want, need and also don’t need. But the idea that a product is shoppable solely to do good in this world is the main idea of Thankyou. (Currently) an Australian and New Zealand only based social enterprise, that bring’s consumers a product choice, for one reason only; “to help create a world where not one person lives in extreme poverty.”

In 2008, Daniel, Justine & Jarryd co-founded Thankyou to help bridge the gap between two of our world’s extremes; extreme poverty & extreme consumerism.

Still not quite sure how it works?

Step one: Thankyou makes necessary home, baby and body products you’ll love, like hand-washes, cleaning supplies, baby wipes and deodorants, that are designed to be kind to humans and the planet.

Step Two: Thankyou gives every cent left (after the costs in step one) to help end extreme poverty.

Thankyou is a social enterprise owned 100% by their own charitable trust, with 18.55Million AUD raised so far and donated!

How else are they sustainable? Thankyou focuses on consumer packaging by adopting goals to ensure packaging uses less resources, is more easily recycled, and uses materials which can be returned and reused, with the goal of minimising waste. As of 2020, Thankyou is a certified carbon neutral organisation for its operations by Climate Active. Carbon emissions associated with their products and supply chain estimations were also included and offset as part of this assessment.

Their new plan is to rapidly expand far beyond Australia and New Zealand, with their sights set on the U.A.E. in 2025!

fashion

Oris luxury watches use recycled plastic in their dials

Posted on October 24, 2024

How do we get rid of plastic? Well, we can’t yet – but we can find new purposes for it, like recycling it, to help keep it out of landfills and out of our environment as much as possible.

One such luxury brand is Oris, who as a Swiss watchmaker are determined to keep their creations as sustainable as possible. With roots dating back to 1904, it’s inspiring to see the brand helping to pave the way for real change within its industry.

Oris Aquis Date Upcycle

One of their key creations, the Oris Aquis Date Upcycle, is actually crafted with a vibrant dial made from recycled PET plastic. Each Upcycle model showcases a one-of-a-kind design, housed in their new sustainable watch boxes, made from recyclable cardboard and paper.

This lightweight, modular packaging reduces plastic use by 1.5 tonnes annually and cuts weight by 65%. Its collapsible design also decreases volume by 50%, lowering carbon emissions, in alignment with Global Recycling Day.

Most recently, each watch box now includes recycled paper cards with a QR code for all warranties, and watch details.

Orise Great Barrier Reef Limited Edition IV

Certified climate-neutral by ClimatePartner, Oris aims to reduce emissions by 10% annually through its Emissions Reduction Programme. Oris even partnered with Reef Restoration Foundation in 2018 on their mission to bring Change for the Better. “Oris is climate neutral and committed to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” says Co-CEO Rolf Studer.

Featured travel

Sheraton Maldives 🐚 Coral Propagation & Water Bottling Initiatives

Posted on March 9, 2022

My long-planned babymoon in the Maldives was unfortunately cancelled last minute due to a Zika outbreak in the islands, but aside from missing out on those baby blue waters and looking forward to relaxing in island life for a long weekend, I was most looking forward to seeing the re-growth of this resort’s marine ecosystem. Famed for its picturesque underwater scenery, Maldives has been hard hit by climate change in the last 10 years. Ocean warming is the main pressure on the local reef systems. The ocean acts as a carbon sink, absorbing vast quantities of carbon dioxide emitted by GHG’s. Passed its capacity to filter it all out naturally, ocean acidification is the resulting reaction which leads to coral bleaching and ultimately death.

Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa has just witnessed a coral spawning, which is a milestone in the resort’s coral propagation initiative that started in February 2020. To date, over 6,000 coral fragments from 15 different species of corals have been transplanted to their artificial reefs.

These coral colonies were rescued from Gulhi Falhu in 2020 and relocated on coral pyramids at the Sheraton Full Moon Resort & Spa to give them a second chance to thrive. Now healthy and strong enough to spawn after the relocation, the coral shows how important restoration is for the future of these archipelago’s.

The aim of coral restoration is to ensure a proactive take on transplanting more coral fragments on the frames that will spawn and restore coral reefs around the Maldives once they are mature enough. Coral spawning increases genetic diversity and is a sign that reefs are slowly recovering from previous massive bleaching events.

As one of the largest man-made coral structures in the Maldives, the resort has teamed up with Reefscapers, a coral propagation organization appointed by the Maldivian Government to protect the marine habitat. The program also echoes back to Marriott International’s “Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy” initiative across Asia Pacific, providing first-hand connections with local communities and the environment.

Guests can also get involved and adopt a frame and get involved personally to plant new corals (prices starting at $170 per frame).

As well as their underwater achievements, the resort runs its own ‘water bottling plant initiative’ which is dedicated to removing large amounts of plastic bottles from the resort. This initiative is an important aspect of the property’s commitment to protecting and preserving their environment through day-to-day operations.

The new water bottling facility uses reverse osmosis technology by eliminating the need to transport water from the mainland. This advanced technology utilizes high pressure to clean and purify seawater by driving it through an eco-friendly water filtration system. The water is then mineralized, chilled and bottled in reusable glass containers ready to be enjoyed by guests.

Dedicated to making its operation self-sustainable and preserving the island’s natural environment, Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa is also removing all disposable plastic straws and stirrers. This particular objective is to reduce landfill waste by 45% and responsibly source its top 10 product purchase categories by 2025.

… I will definitely be visiting in the late summer to see these beautiful reefs for myself.

Recommended Uncategorized

💙🌊 For The Oceans – Cigarette Butts with Amanda Rushforth and Azraq 🌊💙

Posted on July 7, 2020

Every year 4.5 Trillion cigarette butts are littered worldwide, with a significant percentage finding their way into our oceans and onto our shores. In fact, 30-40% of all items collected in coastal and urban clean ups are butts. Azraq highlights that most people do not realise that cigarette filters within cigarette butts are made from a type of plastic called cellulose acetate which doesn’t biodegrade.

In 2003, The Dubai Municipality introduced a 500 AED fine for littering them. This fine has doubled to 1000 AED with six black points for drivers flicking cigarette butts onto UAE roads. Not only being unpleasant aesthetically, cigarette filters are comprised of thousands of chemical ingredients, including arsenic, lead, nicotine and ethyl phenol, all of which leak into aquatic environments.

As well as smoking being bad for the environment, smoking killed more than 2,900 people in the UAE in 2016 and cost the country $569 million in lost productivity and health care costs, according to the latest report on global smoking. In 2016 it was reported that, 748 cigarettes were smoked per person aged over 15 years, per year in the United Arab Emirates.

Here’s my third video highlighting marine conservation with Azraq ME 💙🌊 I’d love to hear what you think! #marinedebris #fortheoceans #oceanconservation

Recommended

💙🌊 For The Oceans – Useless Utensils with Amanda Rushforth and Azraq 🌊💙

Posted on June 18, 2020

Azraq highlights that it’s no secret that the hospitality sector is one of the biggest contributors to plastic pollution globally, and they think all of those plastic utensils that they give away (you know, the ones that end up among the most common items found during costal clean ups) are pretty useless!

In 2016, Worldcentric.org estimated that 40 billion plastic utensils were used every year in the United States alone. The majority of these were thrown out after just one use and ended up in landfills and waterways… something must be done. In order to highlight this problem, and hopefully get people to think twice about their usage, AZRAQ launched its #uselessutensils campaign in mid-2019 in partnership with Freedom Pizza, Lush Middle East, Carluccio’s and Beitfann Studio (Sustainable City). With your help, they collected approximately 60kg and over 30,000 plastic utensils in six weeks!

Here’s my second video highlighting marine conservation with Azraq ME 💙🌊 I’d love to hear what you think! #marinedebris #fortheoceans #oceanconservation

Recommended

💙🌊 For The Oceans – Marine Conservation with Amanda Rushforth and Azraq 🌊💙

Posted on June 7, 2020

Azraq is a non-profit marine conservation organisation registered with the Community Development Authority in the UAE. The mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. The aim is to EDUCATE through awareness programs and community presentations, MOTIVATE individuals, organisations and communities at large to make a difference and ACTIVATE them by offering a range of activities on, in and around the ocean.

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY.

The marine environment needs help. Why not you? Whether you volunteer at a stall, help keep our shores clean and safe or can encourage others to care about the oceans through art, there are many ways you can become a marine warrior helping Azraq conserve and protect our precious oceans.

I’ve been working on a few videos during lockdown for my new role as a director at Azraq – to highlight marine conservation 💙🌊 I’d love to hear what you think!

Fitness

Adidas X Parley: Run for the Oceans

Posted on June 25, 2018

Hundreds turned out at 5.30am last Friday morning at Nessnass Beach to support the global adidas X Parley initiative ‘Run for the Oceans’. Running not just to raise awareness, each attendee collected kilometres which translated into $’s on their ‘runtastic’ APP.

We made it down to run with the crowds amidst 38* heat and what felt like almost 100% humidity, sweating for a cause. It’s a campaign that’s very close to my heart, I believe it’s also something that everyone can take part in, not just on a run or at an event, but in all aspects of life. There is no ‘away’ so it’s important to make smart and sustainable choices when you shop!

Say no to plastic bags at the supermarket, single use plastic bottles at the gym and aim to reduce, reuse & recycle.

Why is it important?

One pair of UltraBOOST prevents approx. 11 plastic bottles from entering our oceans, this sock-like upper is made from Parley Ocean Plastic™️; upcycled plastic waste that is intercepted before it reaches the oceans. In 2017 alone adidas Running created over 1 million pairs of UltraBOOST Parley, preventing an estimated 11 million plastic bottles from entering our oceans. For 2018, adidas will build on this achievement and continue to fight against marine plastic pollution by transforming the threat into a thread.

What’s new?

adidas has launched them in a new Deep Ocean Blue colourway inspired by the depths of the Mariana Trench to creatively express that marine plastic pollution is not just a surface level problem, it impacts the ocean’s entire ecosystem.

Fitness

Making Time for the Oceans

Posted on March 27, 2018

We’ve got a long way to go yet, but it’s a fantastic thing to see international renowned companies, such as Swiss watch brand Breitling, taking to the frontline to fight the good fight. The Oceans are in dire need of our help, only last week was it shown that all the fish in our supermarkets had various amounts of plastic actually inside the meat. So it’s great to see partnerships evolving with those who dominate billboards worldwide and on-the-ground eco-warriors.

Breitling and Ocean Conservancy, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to leading the global fight for healthy oceans and clean beaches will work together to set up and run beach cleanups around the world, as part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup.

Working closely with experts to recycle the collected trash in the most effective and ecologically responsible ways. Breitling is also taking the educative approach, ensuring it isn’t just the adults who participate. Not only are they getting active, but Breitling are also set to donate part of the proceeds from its limited-edition Superocean Heritage collection.

Polar bear, Arctic Ocean. (PPR/Breitling/Christopher Michel)

Known for their dedication, Ocean Conservancy has organised tens of thousands of coastal-cleanup operations for more than 30 years in 153 countries. Since 1986, more than 12 million people have picked up nearly 230 million pounds of trash as part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup.

“We are excited to be working with Georges and his team at Breitling. Their customers are adventurers who explore every corner of the globe and see the beauty and wonder of the ocean from vantage points that are not easily accessible. Breitling and its customers understand first-hand that a healthy ocean – teeming with life, free of trash and plastic – is critical to life on our incredible, awe-inspiring planet. We look forward to working with them to advance our shared mission of maintaining a healthy ocean.” Ocean Conservancy CEO Janis Searles Jones

I took a little leap of faith last week with Bretiling too, as they launched their newest collection watches in Dubai, I took to the skies to see what all the fuss was about…

Breitling at SkyDive Dubai

So with Breitling covering the land, sea and air now – there’s little space left for them to conquer.

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