Hundreds walk with green message

posted on 23/04/2012: 538 views

Around 600 people took part in a 3-km walkathon in Sharjah on Sunday and took a pledge to conserve the environment. The participants included families of different nationalities along with children.

The residents congregated at Al Majaz area at 4.30pm and started the mass walk from Al Noor Mosque area, proceeding through Buhaira Corniche on the new synthetic jogging track made from 100 per cent recycled tyres and ended at 8.30pm at the new Al Majaz Park Waterfront.

The environmental walkathon, themed ‘Mobilise the Earth' to observe Earth Day on April 22, has been organised by Sharjah's environmental agency Bee'ah, aimed at raising awareness on the importance of waste recycling and saving the environment.

Najib Faris, Vice-President of Marketing, Communications and Public Awareness at Bee'ah, told The Gulf Today that the Sharjah community has been mobilised through the walk to spread the message of individual responsibility in keeping the city beautiful, clean and hygienic.

"Several families joined the walkathon with their children who were actively involved in different activities, which were designed to educate them on the significance and numerous ways to protect the environment and waste recycling, so to ease the life on this planet,” he added.

Bee'ah educated the walkathon participants on the simple ways that they can adopt and contribute to turning material and physical waste into recycled resources that can be re-used by the community and in the economy.

"Participating at the walkathon, the kids took their pledge with a short-speech on video camera extending their support and commitment to save the environment. They also engaged in drawing pictures, colouring images, painting on glass and writing short stories all based on environment conservation themes,” Faris elaborated.

The Bee'ah also launched myBee'ah loyalty programme, a rewards programme for environmental actions, supported by numerous businesses and retailers across the UAE. "We pledged a conserved environment, which is the birthright of all human beings and animals living on this planet and the generations ahead,” said Rashad Al Ghadban, a walkathon participant.

"We have to behave in environmentally-conscious ways, motivated by reasons of social responsibility toward conservation,” remarked Ruhina Dean, an advocate for the cause.

"We expressed our commitment to protect the environment, as it is essential that the community works together to take action towards creating and maintaining an environmentally sustainable future,” she added.



Ibrahim Fahmi, another participant, called for more such environment-awareness programmes in order to discourage people from littering.

"Action should be taken against those who damage the environment and more people should be educated on joining conservation efforts so that they would learn how inaction harms the environment,” he concluded. – The Gulf Today

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