A look at the various ways we can live an efficient, eco-friendly lifestyle in the UAE.
After launching his green maid and maintenance service Eco Clean in Dubai at the end of 2010, Tolga Soytekin noticed a gap in the market.
With 400 clients now paying Dh35 an hour for his company's services and ranging from The Address hotels to students, the 31-year-old entrepreneur has been successful in proving that non-toxic, natural cleaning products are just as effective as the potent and often carcinogenic versions more commonly sold. The business, originally launched as Eco Maid, has been so successful that he plans to launch his own chemical-free range of products by the end of the month.
"Having lemon trees, olive groves and vegetable patches was a normal thing for us growing up." says Soytekin, who swapped the Mediterranean's fruit-bearing trees for the UAE's date palm variety a decade ago. "My family is from Cyprus and we're used to clean living in the open air with organic foods."
As political, academic and industry leaders in the field of clean and efficient energy gather in Abu Dhabi for the four-day World Future Energy Summit, which draws to a close tomorrow, a growing number of dedicated entrepreneurs are helping UAE residents to live increasingly green lives.
One who already relies upon Mother Nature's help to clean her house is Leena Al Abbas, the founder and chief executive of the country's first and so far only organic salon, Zen Beauty Lounge in Dubai.
"All I need at home is vinegar, lemon and baking soda," says the 40-year-old Emirati. "But I think it is a great move [by Eco Clean] and I fully support green businesses and entrepreneurs as I am one of them too. We really have to try to change people's way of thinking and introduce them to healthier living."
Al Abbas founded her company in 2009, having long searched in vain for a UAE salon offering fully organic products and treatments.
"I started getting skin allergies and rashes whenever I coloured my hair with ammonia and even when using regular mani-pedi products - the chemicals were affecting me, so I decided to launch the Lounge."
A visit to Al Abbas's eco-chic parlour is green from the get-go. Clients walk into a spacious bamboo-panelled room accented with shades of non-toxic paint, dotted overhead with energy-saving light bulbs illuminating neat piles of biodegradable towels.
From eyelash tints and massages to reflexology and face masks, she now offers the full spectrum of conventional treatments - all of them 100 per cent organic, natural, vegan or made from an in-house mix of fresh ingredients. Maintaining her green status, however, is not without its challenges.
"Unfortunately there are not many suppliers of [organic beauty] products here but I am lucky with our nail products, which I source here through Zoya - the first brand that took out the "chemical trio" of toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate. "
"I'm also the first in the market to do organic sugaring and it's a product I get from Canada. It's very popular for sensitive skins and is unlike hot wax which, containing petrochemical derivatives, can burn and scar you."
Like Soytekin, Al Abbas is quick to dispel the myth that eco-friendly products and services are prohibitively expensive.
"It's a perception that definitely used to be there. With beauty products - it's a bit like when people first started buying organic food. It was much more expensive so people would say, 'OK, I will treat myself'. But now, with all the local farmers, you can get amazing fruits and vegetables at a very reasonable cost."
Emirati Khalid Butti Al Shamsi, the owner of Abu Dhabi Organics Farm, couldn't agree more. He sells his pesticide-free outdoor-grown tomatoes for up to a dirham less than imported versions from Jordan and Syria.
"We need to respect the environment and care more about our carbon footprint. Why keep importing when we have a great climate in winter and it's so easy to produce healthy, affordable food in the UAE?" he says
"If blindfolded, for sure, I could taste the difference. If you keep vegetables overnight in the fridge you lose around 30 per cent of the taste. So why go for old stock? Go for organic, fresh and local."
Started as a pilot project in 2000 and given local and international certification in 2007, the UAE's first organic farm remains true to Al Shamsi's original philosophy of chemical-free agriculture with no genetic modifications.
Today, located about 15km east of Abu Dhabi airport, the expansive farm grows an array of vegetables from capsicum and wild rocket to cucumber and coriander. Lulu Hypermarket and Spinneys stock their produce and the farm's store, Mazaraa, in Al Mushrif is open to the public who clamour after free-range organic poultry, home-made honey and tropical fruits, according to Al Shamsi.
"What we are doing is not new," he says. "In fact it's exactly how we should all be growing fruit and vegetables. It's how farming was done 50 years ago and we're simply going back to that. We mix green and animal waste together and we compost it to reuse in the field again. Therefore, everything comes from our own farm. Chemicals are just not needed and of course there are side-effects for the environment and our bodies."
It was the potentially serious side effect of exposing his team to toxic dry-cleaning products such as perchlorethylene that lead 39-year-old Preeth Saphyadevan to establish the UAE's first environmentally friendly dry cleaners, Blossom, in Dubai just eight months ago.
"The traditional dry cleaning chemicals used are not necessarily harmful to the fabrics - but as they are petroleum-based solvents, the chemical particles will stay in the material after cleaning and these are very harmful to humans."
Having graduated from India as a textile engineer and working almost 20 years as a laundry manager for five-star hotel groups worldwide such as Le Meridien, Saphyadevans knew there had to be an environmentally sound alternative to the industrial chemicals commonly used.
Despite many of the chemicals used in dry cleaning being banned elsewhere, and some European countries beginning to produce only machine-washable clothes, demand for his eco-friendly service has been slow to build, he says.
"We are the only eco-friendly dry cleaner in the UAE and I think people just think laundry is menial, not aware of the [potential] consequences," he says. "But it's a new generation and I have great hope for the future."
rduane@thenational.ae
info-box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Happy Tenant
Started: January 2019
Co-founders: Joe Moufarrej and Umar Rana
Based: Dubai
Sector: Technology, real-estate
Initial investment: Dh2.5 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 4,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Race card:
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok
UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final
(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Poacher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERichie%20Mehta%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nimisha%20Sajayan%2C%20Roshan%20Mathew%2C%20Dibyendu%20Bhattacharya%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More on Quran memorisation:
