Building on its efforts to promote sustainable behaviour in the Sultanate, the Environment Society of Oman (ESO) is joining the global movement ‘Plastic-Free July’ with a series of engaging events. This will include a month-long social media campaign, animation videos, and a calendar of virtual webinars, all aiming to raise awareness about the impact of single-use plastics on the environment and our health, and to encourage people, whether as consumers or producers, to help tackle the problem. The webinars, which will be in Arabic, are open to the public and kick-off with a plastics awareness presentation being held on 11th of July.
Supported by long-term partners Oman LNG and Sabco Group, Plastic-Free July is part of a wider campaign that ESO launched earlier this year called ‘It’s Time’. The ESO campaign aims to encourage the adoption of environmentally-conscious community behaviours across Oman, focusing on three key aspects, littering, recycling and single-use plastics.
“Our fight towards eliminating plastic began a long time ago, but since hygiene concerns surrounding COVID-19 have triggered a significant increase in plastic consumption, it is even more pertinent now. Every day we see more people looking for alternatives to replace single-use plastics but we still need to increase our efforts, as a nation, to work towards solving this issue,” said Sayyida Tania Al Said, President of ESO. “We appreciate the continuous support we receive from our partners and the local community and truly believe that together, we can make a difference.”
Sayyid Aymen Al Busaidi, Vice Chairman, SABCO Group said, “We are always keen to join hands with ESO on their valuable work in addressing environmental challenges, and plastic pollution is no exception. Raising awareness is the first step in creating change and we will continue to be involved in various ways to motivate people to replace conventional plastics with alternative materials, while incorporating it into our work culture.”
Early this year, Oman issued a Ministerial Resolution 23/2020 to ban single-use shopping bags from January 2021, an important milestone in its efforts to kick-start nation-wide change. Meanwhile, ESO has been advocating for the plastic free agenda since its inception and is committed to promoting the adoption of environmentally sustainable behaviours amongst all members of society.