Three residents reveal how they took a five-day sustainability challenge

John Bull, Director, Terra - The Sustainability Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai

As the one-year countdown to Expo 2020 Dubai begins tomorrow, we re-emphasise one of the core values of the world’s greatest show — Sustainability — and ask three Dubai residents to undertake a 5-day Sustainability Challenge to demonstrate the truth that each one of us can, in simple, small, everyday ways, make a big contribution towards a sustainable future. Meet John Bull, Rasha Saleh and Gitali Sinha who tell us how they met the challenge.

For me, being sustainable is about being more conscious,” says John Bull. “The decisions aren’t necessarily very difficult to make, but they require planning and effort.”

In undertaking the 5-day challenge to go plastic-free, meat-free and eat local, buy local, Bull says the biggest thing he learnt was that it is possible to be more sustainable. “You just have to think about it,” he says.

Bull is serious about contributing to stopping the waste, not just with plastic and food but also in other areas. “I’m aware that textile waste is a massive pollutant – fast fashion, disposable clothing, it’s a horrendous waste of the earth’s resources,” he says. “I’m lucky I’m a bit of a hoarder – I have a pair of shorts that I bought in 2005. I am making sure they live as long as they can, so I took them in to the tailors to be patched for I think the seventh time since I’ve been in Dubai. They’re now more patch than original shorts, but I’m not going to give up on them.”

He is also making other small changes in, for example, giveaways. “I went to a trade fair, [made a] conscious decision ... not to pick up the free pens, key rings, USB sticks. Saying no at the source is a good way.

“And instead of giving out business cards, my work pass has a QR code with all my details – tapping that against somebody’s phone or taking a photo of it uploads [the] details.

“This is a way of being sustainable that makes life easier, too,” says Bull.