This week, Abu Dhabi has announced that it is set to ban single-use plastic bags from June. In preparation for the eco-move, residents will need to stock up on reusable shopping bags, so why not find a few fashionable choices?
Supermarkets around the UAE, including Waitrose and Grandiose stores, stock their own printed canvas totes, which you can buy at till points.
Click through the gallery above to see out pick of the most stylish reusable bags.
Alternatively, you can shop online for bags for life, where there is something for every budget.
Noon sells multipacks of camel-print canvas tote bags for Dh9, or if you're looking to splurge, Anya Hindmarch cotton tote bags go for between Dh1,500 and Dh3,000 on The Outnet.
Brands such as Typo, Muji and Kiabi sell canvas totes in a rainbow of colours, as does homeware store Lakeland.
Last year, Waitrose partnered up with Emirati print designer Huda Al Nuaimi for the Waitrose x Nuaimi bag. The striking produce and leaf print has been compared to the Dior Book Tote. At Dh50 it's a fraction of the price, but will stand its own in any chic shopping setting.
Grandiose, meanwhile sends shoppers away with canvas bags bearing the slogan, "Plastic is not an option". The chain has been plastic-free at UAE checkouts since 2019.
Abu Dhabi's single-use plastic bags
Abu Dhabi will ban the use of single-use plastic bags from June. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) said it plans to gradually reduce the amount of single-use plastic products used in the emirate and encourage reusable products.
The initiative is based on plans announced in 2020 to phase out disposable plastics, which had been expected to come into effect earlier, but was put on hold by Covid-19.
Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, EAD’s secretary general, said the ban is being introduced because of single-use plastic's "harmful impacts on the environment and biodiversity".
“As part of our plan to completely curb the use of single-use plastics, we are encouraging Abu Dhabi citizens to use more multipurpose and re-usable materials to reduce their environmental footprint," she said.
See more alternatives to plastic bags – from canvas totes to keychain bags:
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Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
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