Earth Week in El Gouna
If you didn’t know, El Gouna is one of the most ecologically advanced towns in the world. It boasts a recycling system that outdoes just about everybody across the globe. They might not know it, but this is one of the many factors that keep El Gouna residents and vacationers happy. It’s simply one of those things: you don’t look out at the sea and say, “Wow, I’m grateful for efficient recycling.” But if the blue lagoons and clear water were riddled with plastic and litter, then you would notice.
But, an efficient recycling system would not be complete without the, mostly anonymous, help of the town’s residents. It’s a perfect symmetry. Most of El Gouna’s residents have moved here from somewhere were else. After all, the town is only 30 years old. But most of us have had enough of the big cities with their craziness, litter, smog and noise pollution. And therefore, most of El Gouna’s residents are aware that the cleanliness of this town should not be taken for granted.
So, who were these heroes?
Sytze Boomsma is the founder of El Gouna Mountain Goats. He leads happy hikers on hiking and climbing excursions in the desert. In honour of Earth Week, he offered a free hike in the desert, but with the added caveat that all participants help pick up litter. The report was outstanding. The team began their campaign near the Bedouin camp, northwest of El Gouna in a canyon known as Wadi Bileh. Most of the litter in these parts of the desert is blown downwind from various towns. The near constant northerly wind does a good job of bringing anything from the north and dropping it along the way. However, it is every person’s responsibility to help keep our planet clean, regardless of who’s fault it is.
On the day, there were a number of children in tow. This in itself is a victory as it creates awareness in children about the fragility of the planet and how we should preserve it, not only for ourselves but also for those who follow us. And so, the next question follows: What happens to the bags of trash after they’ve been collected? Well, the whole team took all their collections down to the recycling plant, not far from Wadi Bileh, and watched the whole recycling process in action.
After the cleanup, the children were awarded some extra, obligation free, climbing as well as playing in the dunes while the adults were treated to camel and horseback riding at The Oasis stables.
The Clubhouse
The Clubhouse is always a strong voice for planetary preservation. All year round, Hoda Mansour (The Clubhouse owner), is fighting to keep our planet clean. Everything she does in her business is done with the planet in mind – down to the use of paper staws. When there is an event on, it goes about with the least amount of carbon footprint possible.
But for Earth Week, the Clubhouse hosted their annual raft race. The rafts, however, have to be built from recyclable materials. This a fun and festive event that takes place each year, growing in participant numbers as well as raft design. As a whole, it brings the community together but also puts a concentration of earth friendly people in one place. For example, Mo and Jasmine from Iggy were there. Iggy is a restaurant that prides itself on being environmentally friendly and so it was perfectly fitting to see them there.
The raft race itself was impressive and hilarious at the same time. There was some impressive designs, but needless to say, some partly sank at their first stroke of the oar. Beautifully, everybody knew it had nothing to with the race and all laughed. There was a winner though – the design being very simple: Some planks strapped to some large water containers. But his trick was to use a longer plank to push on the lagoon bed instead of paddling. The rest of us forgot how shallow the lagoon actually is.
Earth Week took place from 16 – 22 March 2019. The day it ended, we celebrated the Holi Festival at the Clubhouse where, needless to say, the coloured chalk powder was 100% environmentally friendly.
Other Heroes for Earth Week were TUB campus, Honey bee nursery and the Fish Farm all of which created awareness and supported the message.
Earth Week is by no means a once-off. It is, in one sense, like a birthday. It gets celebrated once a year, but is celebrated as the continuing of life, not just a day. And in the same way, Earth Week celebrates the beauty of our planet – a beauty we enjoy every day. It does come with a subtle warning though: Keep the earth clean – for you, your children and your grandchildren.
We are very proud to say that El Gouna is making every effort to keep itself and it’s immediate surroundings environmentally friendly. We have the use of multimple recycle bins dotted around town to encourage others to throw their trash away responsibly and with recycling in mind. El Gouna is also aiming to be a zero waste town. Producing organic food from its own El Gouna Farms, and building several new solar plants, it aims to be the first carbon free resort in Egypt.
Long live EL Gouna and long live our Planet.
