‘A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE’

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Cafe in Dubai, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”. People need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work, it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When Mr El Accad gets a takeaway, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed Road store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic – cups, bottles, forks – has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the cafe chain.

One of the latest changes he has introduced at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified – you could eat the product”.

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”