EAD’s Winning Paper-Less Day Initiative Goes Global

EAD’s Paper-Less Day initiative will go global in 2011, supported by United Nations Environment Programme. On Paper-Less Day 2010, 4.3 tonnes of carbon emissions were saved.

Today, more than fifty organisations gathered to show their support for Paper-Less Day, an initiative that was launched by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) in 2008. The organisations had participated in Paper-Less Day 2010 and signed a charter calling for this day to become a fixed staple on the global environmental calendar. The charter was presented to UNEP, which endorsed the UAE-wide initiative.

Paper-Less Day was designed by EAD to encourage organisations to reduce their paper use. It has gained popularity amongst organisations in the UAE in an unprecedented way with 141 organizations and academic institutions representing 126,756 individuals throughout the UAE and Arab world taking part. They contributed to an estimated reduction in 4,287 kilogrammes of carbon emissions from the UAE. EAD invited government and private organizations, communities and individuals to commit to Paper-Less Day through a dedicated website. The website was launched on May 11th and the number of participants rose from 17,000 during the first week to 126, 756 by the 3rd of June, when the Paper-Less Day was observed. 58% of visitors to the website were from Abu Dhabi and around 41% were from other emirates.

Praising this initiative, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said “Engaging society on environmental challenges, from the public to policy-makers, often works best with a simple and straight–forward concept: Abu Dhabi’s Paper-Less Day, the brainchild of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, is one such action-oriented idea.”

“What begins as a paper-less-day, can build into a paper-less week or a plastic-free month and eventually into the ultimate goal- transformation towards a low carbon, resource efficient 21st century Green Economy,” he added.

Speaking at today’s ceremony, Razan Al Mubarak, EAD’s Assistant Secretary General, said: “Despite the advent of digital technology, high levels of paper consumption remain prevalent inside many businesses and other organisations, much of it unnecessary. By asking people to ‘think before they print’, Paper-Less Day demonstrates that a substantial reduction in paper consumption can be made simply and without pain, which we hope leads to a greater consciousness and effort the other 364 days of the year.”

“The only impacts are positive: less paper usage means less trees are cut down, less energy is used in the end-to-end process and indeed it means less cost for the organisation too,” she added.

Dr. Habib El Habr, UNEP/ROWA Director & Regional Representative, noted: “Paper-Less Day is a simple concept with universal appeal and benefit. UNEP’s role is as an advocate, educator, and catalyst for action which leads to positive environmental impact. We believe that Paper-Less Day has the potential to become an important milestone on the global environmental calendar,” he added

According to EAD, each participating organisation was given the flexibility and freedom to raise their own internal awareness in the manner they deemed fit for their own employees. Messages were uploaded onto the website (www.paperlessday.com) to avoid printing of paper. Only one paper was printed by EAD during this campaign, which was the formal invitation letter to UNEP to support this UAE-wide initiative.

EAD’s ‘Top Ten Tips’ for reducing paper consumption:

1) Read your newspapers online
2) Think before you pull. Reduce your use tissue papers!
3) Think before you print
4) Use both sides of every sheet of paper
5) Follow the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
6) Buy paper that is FSC-certified or is sourced from sustainable forests
7) Use the fit-to-page features (such as in Microsoft Excel) to reduce printing
8) Send faxes electronically
9) Switch to recycled paper
10) Tell your family and friends about the need to reduce paper consumption – create awareness and encourage others to re-think their habits too

For more information about Paper-Less Day, please visit www.paperlessday.com
 

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