(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Sometimes, it's not enough to just think green but also act on it. Friday morning brought out the enthusiastic staff of nearly a dozen hotels of Qatar into the Mesaieed desert in a bid to tidy up the beach.
Hosted by Wyndham Grand Regency and Regency Sealine Camp, under the motto of 'Think Green, Think Clean', the Green Hoteliers € Sealine Beach Cleanup Campaign featured employees of more than 10 hotels, including Marriott Doha, Marriott Marquis City Center Doha, W Doha, Oryx Rotana Doha, The Torch, Grand Hyatt Doha, Shangri-la Hotel Doha, Melia Doha, Ramada Encore Doha, Retaj Hospitality and Wyndham Grand Regency, who joined forces to clean up the debris from the 13-km-long Sealine shore.
To boost their energy and spirits, participants were greeted at the meeting point in Sealine with cold refreshments before being escorted by car troops to the gathering area.
Each team member received a kit including hand gloves, garbage bags and refreshment along with labelled caps and team number flags. Once equipped, each team headed to their section and started the cleaning process which lasted for nearly three hours. The debris was then transported by trucks.
Ayman Lotfy, Cluster General Manager for Wyndham Grand Regency Hotel Doha and Ramada Encore Doha, said, "It brings me great honour to contribute and be part of making a difference to help our environment. It is delightful to have so many join us hand in hand, and making a difference for a brighter future. I congratulate all teams for their hard work and I hope this will be an important act in spreading the message of Think Green."
Once the cleaning was done, all participants headed to Regency Sealine Camp where a delicious buffet of food and deserts awaited them. The sun was far from harsh and the air was soon filled with the sounds of a pianist, singer and a harpist performing by the beach, while the participants chatted about and relaxed. Gazebos got busy with quick on-the-spot shoulder massages.
"Each team received a recognition certificate for being part of making a difference to start a change and help our environment, our planet, our home," Wyndham Grand Regency said.
Sponsors, Qatar Television and members of the media were thanked for their support in making this event campaign successful and being part of Think Green. Think Clean. Sponsors included, Ooredoo, Speedline Printing Press, Regency Sealine Camp, Dallah International, Abdul Aziz Trad Est, Bakemart, Envision Media, Qatar National Import & Export, Top Secret and Silver Line Construction & Machinery Rental.
Of late, beach clean-up drives have caught on in Qatar. Earlier this year, at a beach cleaning exercise in Al Shamal helmed by the Indian Embassy and the Indian Cultural Centre, Dileep Kumar, an award-winning wildlife photographer who works for the Ministry of Environment, lamented at the havoc being wreaked by plastic debris on water bodies everywhere. "This isn't just a national issue, it's an international issue," Kumar had said, referring to the bigger issue of plastic gyres, a small part of which significantly affects Qatar.
A gyre, essentially, is a naturally occurring vortex of wind and currents that rotate in a clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, thereby creating a whirlpool effect. The vortex moves more slowly at the centre, which is where marine plastic debris collects. "There are five major gyres in the oceans all over the world, and all have become huge islands of plastic debris," Kumar had pointed out.
The problem with gyres is that they are mostly full of carbon-containing chemical compounds which resist photochemical, biological and chemical degradation. "Marine waste from ships and plastic waste from other countries such as Iran, UAE and Pakistan end up here along this coast," Kumar had said.
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