Teaching the community the importance of recycling
In 2012, Bee’ah launched a door-todoor awareness programme to help encourage recycling in homes and to educate people on the benefits of being environment-friendly. Almost 75 per cent of residents in Sharjah benefited from the programme. Recently, a Sharjah-wide campaign titled, ‘Recycling Just Got Easier’ supplied green and blue, bio-degradable, recycling bags to the public across four Sharjah Cooperative Society outlets. This year, Bee’ah rolled out reverse vending machines (RVMs) in high footfall locations. Community members are encouraged to deposit their aluminium cans and plastic bottles in the RVMs, and are rewarded for their efforts through Bee’ah Rewards. Bee’ah’s solar-powered smart bins have also inspired recycling practices and responsible disposal of waste by providing free Wi-Fi to users. Bee’ah’s mobile app also encourages recycling in the community by identifying the nearest recycling point, in addition to providing easy access to services like ‘You Call, We Haul’, where people can contact Bee’ah to collect and recycle their bulky waste. Seeking to educate the young generation on the importance of environmental practices like recycling, the Bee’ah School of Environment was launched in 2010. The school has been successful in reaching over 170,000 students and 5,000 teachers so far. In addition, an annual competition was launched under the school in 2014, which shows students from participating schools the importance of waste reduction by promoting teamwork through a competitive spirit to collect paper, plastic and aluminium materials for recycling.