A Dubai-based volunteer group is organising a clean-up along the Dubai Open Beach tomorrow.
Around 60 people registered for the event, in which the volunteers will be clearing up litter along the beach and in the water.
Mahmoud Abu-Wardeh, a volunteer from Tawasul, the organisation behind the initiative, said he was hoping many more people would join in. "This is an open day. It is a good family exercise and a great educational experience for children," he said.
Once the waste has been collected, volunteers will sort and weigh it. The data will be sent to Project Aware, an American non-profit environmental organisation that collects and analyses data about pollution affecting beaches and dive sites.
Of all the waste beachgoers can leave behind, plastic has the most negative impact. It takes hundreds of years to break down, and there are studies suggesting that tiny plastic pieces are entering the marine food chain.
Tawasul is an initiative pioneered by Ernst Van Der Poll, a Dubai-based diving instructor. Its programme runs in seven schools in the emirate, teaching pupils diving, marine ecology and other environmental topics.
The beach clean-up starts at 8.30am.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
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Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
