DOHA: Qatar Foundation has launched Green Island, a unique recycling hub designed to promote eco-friendly living practices, coinciding with the beginning of Qatar Sustainability Week 2024 which commenced on Saturday.
Based at Qatar Foundation's (QF) Education City, Green Island is a community-centric recycling hub featuring educational exhibits, workshops, and interactive displays that offer hands-on learning experiences for visitors. It also hosts a self-service recycling station with seven main recycling streams for paper, plastic, glass, metals, batteries, cables, and electronics.
Ouassim Alami, Strategic Initiatives Advisor, QF's Chief Operating Officer's (COO) Office, said: "Green Island is a multisectoral, partnership-based learning hub where Qatar Foundation aims to provide experiential education to the entire community. We target learners of all ages, and with the support of our partners from both the private and public sectors, we offer hands-on workshops to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability. Our goal is to educate visitors about the numerous national projects and initiatives that are contributing to making Qatar a more sustainable nation.
Dr Nawal H Al Sulaiti, Sustainability Manager, QF's COO Office, said: "Green Island showcases practical sustainability applications such as construction waste upcycling, sustainable farming, and solar energy. We are also addressing the challenge of food waste, which is a significant issue for the entire region. Additionally, we are proud that Green Island hosts promising biofuel research from QF's Hamad Bin Khalifa University and QF partner university Texas A&M University at Qatar.
"Green Island is an open platform, and we welcome companies, as well as sustainability enthusiasts, to join us in building a vibrant, innovative, and productive community dedicated to advancing sustainability in Qatar and beyond."
A key component of Green Island is community education, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders and sustainability advocates. Schools can participate in organized field trips to Green Island, where students can learn about recycling and gain a deeper understanding of sustainable practices.
Additionally, community members can use Snoonu to deliver items to Green Island. Dr Al Sulaiti added: "Throughout the project development, we sought ways to make recycling easier and more accessible for everyone. We found the perfect partner in Snoonu to reach out to all community members, enabling them to have their recyclable waste collected from their homes and delivered to Green Island using the 'Snoosend' function in the Snoonu App."
Green Island has been developed through collaborations with several local organizations, including Arab Engineering Bureau, Milaha, QatarEnergy, Seashore Group, Agrico, and Al-Awalia (Qatar Primary Materials Company), which will host upcycling workshops showcasing how demolition materials can be transformed into works of art.Qatar Sustainability Week 2024 is the ninth edition of the national campaign led by Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, a member of QF.
