Desert Cleanup Drive

[Nivin]

Last Friday when we were almost finishing the drive at Murqquab we saw a huge pile of waste in the sand seems like a party left over and it was very sad to see.

The climate is getting better and it attracts more people to the desert for off-roading and camping and sometimes they don’t take the waste back. Desert is fragile environment which are home to various creatures from reptiles to camels and we must be attentive in how we treat the areas that we visit. These animals depend on land to survive. Land that is untainted by plastic wastes or human wastes. Muncipalities are giving fines to residents who are not following the rules, not putting fire or fire pits and leaving the thrash behind. If this goes bad slowly we will find places getting more restrictions and even closure.

All of us can better the desert’s ecosystem by playing our part in keeping the desert clean. The process is simple, easy, and a great lesson for everyone!

How can you keep the desert clean?

Along with the barbecue, firewood and food, always bring along garbage bags to keep our trash in. This way you know where our trash is going and it is easier to keep track of.  When we are doing barbecue or putting a camp fire always put the fire off with water and take the coal (make sure the fire is completely killed) in the garbage bags. If we are having food in the desert take the waste back and put those at the garbage bins near the exit points and prevent anything from scattering across the sand. If you find someone else's trash on the desert, be kind and pick it up. I would wish for someone to do the same if I forgot about the trash left behind.

Have herd from seniors @Rahimdad @Gaurav @Srikumar the garbage and dead animals they had seen in desert which was worse than what we saw last week. 

Is it possible for us to organize a Covid 19 Compliant Desert Cleanup Drive.

[Rahimdad]

Thank you @Nivin for a very beautiful and heartfelt column on this never ending problem. We have arranged for several Desert Clean up drives in the past and would love to continue such efforts. However at this time due to Covid19 being rampant, there is no safe way of carrying out such exercise. Remember even on our normal drives we are following Covid19 precautions and not allowing anyone to step out of their cars if not really necessary.

What we understand from the experts point of view is the PPE we need for 99% safety is very expensive. Even after spending so much there is still a 1% chance you might not be safe. Over the years we have realized that we could run Desert Clean up drives every week and never have enough drives for this purpose. The only way we can make things better is not by picking up someone's garbage, but to spread the awareness by speaking to people about the mess they create and the consequences.

My humble request is not to get emotionally carried away and start picking up behind people. As seen not everybody follows Covid19 precautions and gather around in what can only be a Covid19 spreader event. You have no idea if the garbage left behind has any Covid19 traces and I'm sure even if you can survive it, there must be some children or elderly at your place who might not be able to fight the virus. Protect yourselves and your loved ones and spread the word on cleanliness not the virus.

[Alexander Alcala]

I also thought about that, because it is horrible to find plastic and bottles at such an extent in these beautiful areas.  But we also have to think in our own safety.  

What we can do, maybe, is document the piles of garbage in the desert and promote a cleaner culture.  And perhaps the government will join us in a cleaning / conscious creation campaign.  In the end, the desert is one of the touristic attractions of the UAE and it should be in the government's interest to preserve it.

[Rahimdad]

@Alexander Alcala we have always run all our desert cleanup campaigns with the help of Dubai and Sharjah Muncipality. Without their help we would not be able to clean up tonnes of rubbish in 2 - 3 hours. But at this point in time the safety of our community is at stake. I even remember @Ale Vallecchi family picking up plastic and dirt from a portion of the desert pre-Covid times, but I do not see this as something to do with the current situation. We will however monitor the situation from time to time and put forward a proposal to Dubai Muncipality as soon as the situation gets better.

[Asif Hussain]

Bumped up one of the old post.

[M.Seidam]

3 hours ago, Rahimdad said:

The only way we can make things better is not by picking up someone's garbage, but to spread the awareness by speaking to people about the mess they create and the consequences.

Agree with @Rahimdad now we should be looking for the tools to spread such awareness .

[Gaurav]

On 10/25/2020 at 7:42 PM, Nivin said:

Last Friday when we were almost finishing the drive at Murqquab we saw a huge pile of waste in the sand seems like a party left over and it was very sad to see.

Totally agree with Rahimdad on this, after COVID we can't do such things.

Btw, Dubai municipality fine upto 50k dhs for desert safari camp sites for leaving any trash behind. 

If you suspect it was a party or safari camp trash send the pin location to DM and they will figure out the way to handle it. 

Good observation and concern for wild life, well done.

[Mario Cornejo]

I've been in three Carnity drives so far and I've seen so many spots where garbage is left behind, it is really sad.

Today, my son and I were in Al Qudra, we came across a spot (24o 47' 50" N / 55o 24' 32" E) where clearly there was a year end's party with lots of trash left behind, my son has been listening in the radio the campaign "Keep the desert clean" and asked if we could clean a bit, which I could not help but agree to.

He used his little shovel to pile garbage, I put on gloves and picked up around 4 bags of trash, mostly whatever was on the surface, bottles of liquor, tin cans of all sorts, unused plastic plates, water bottles, etc. There is so much garbage still there, buried in the sand, if anyone can let me know how to send the location to DM then I will be happy to do so.

We ensured we wore a mask at all times and sanitized well after picking up and dropping the bags in the trash bin.

[Frederic]

Mira community where I live are doing regular desert cleanups on the weekend. Unfortunately my weekend is filled with Carnity drives, but they collect hundreds of trash bags and work together with DM.

[Ale Vallecchi]

@Nivin, @Mario Cornejo, @Alexander Alcala we also have discussed the possibility of organizing such clean up drives with the sponsorship and cooperation of a water company whose CEO took one of our Masterclasses (and voiced his disappointment at the pollution in the desert). Nonetheless, more than the sanitary aspect of collecting garbage - mostly plastic, glass and cans which have been exposed tsun, wind, hot and cold for quite sometimes, thus very unlikely to be infectious, if picked up with gloves and masks - the current regulations about limiting gatherings prevent us from setting up such organized, officially sponsored drives, and from advertising or raising awareness about such group activity. I believe we'll just have to wait a little longer, to tackle this issue, which is very much at heart for all of us. Surely we will be able to resume these drives in the future.

At the same time, as @Rahimdad said, there will never be enough drives to solve this problem if the culture and habits of desert going people is not changed. As a club we are doing our best, but may certainly do more, by rehiterating the concept of "bringing out what we bring in" with our briefings and advertise our drives as "pollution free", marking "trash dumps" points and alerting authorities of their location (especially in wildlife protected areas, as Marshald and Leaders we could stop the drive for the time necessary to take the waypoint). I guess any idea on how to spread this awareness is welcome, as we all wish this problem to be solved (or limited).