Simple Ways to Make Your Dubai Home More Eco-Friendly

From reducing waste to saving energy, here's some small switches that can make a big difference in the green-living stakes

How to make your Dubai home more eco-friendly

All credits: PA

As a wise frog puppet once said: “It’s not easy being green.”

Kermit wasn’t wrong, but as environmental awareness spreads, it’s certainly getting easier. Indeed, whether you live the main city or towards the outskirts of Dubai, following some simple steps (along with some bigger ones, practicalities and budget permitting) could turn your home from a fuel-guzzling glut of greenhouse gases, into something approaching more of an environmentalist’s Eden.

There is no one right way to go about this – more a series of small steps which, taken together, will reduce your environmental impact in Dubai from ‘heinous’ to ‘mostly guilt-free’.

So grab your recyclable coffee cup and discard your plastic straws, it’s time to slash your carbon footprint in Dubai with a thousand tiny cuts…

Watch out for wasteful waterworks

The most straightforward way to make your home more sustainable is to cut down on needless waste.

Water is a perfect first port of call. Employ the ‘navy shower’ approach, by switching off the water while lathering. You could pick up a waterpebble (AED 47, Amazon) – a waterproof timer that sticks to your bathroom wall and flashes green, amber or red to let you know when it’s time to switch the shower off.

Hundreds of gallons of water are lost every year by Dubai residents waiting for their taps to run hot, so ask your local plumber about installing a recirculated hot water pipe. And fix any leaking or dripping taps or toilets immediately; estimates suggest that a single drippy tap releases up to five gallons of wasted water per day.

Waterpebbles for eco-friendly showers in Dubai

Go back to basics

Minimising waste in Dubai is largely about shifting your mindset and changing how you shop, too. It goes without saying that recycling is a good idea – but even better is to purchase products that don’t come with as much packaging in the first place.

For example, swap disposable kitchen towel for longer-lasting cloths – or cut up an old shirt to make reusable rags. Turn on a fan instead of instantly whacking the air conditioning up. Eschew the tumble-dryer in favour of putting up a traditional washing line (which, apart from possessing a certain Victorian charm, is also much kinder to your clothing).

It’s not always possible, but where you can, see products as investments: Buying a high-quality (ideally second-hand) wooden desk might not seem very ‘save the rainforest’, but a really sturdy unit might not need binning for decades.

These are merely examples – depending on your lifestyle there are a near-infinite number ways to cut down your consumption. Just remember the golden rule: Longer-lasting equals less waste.

Be more switched on about energy efficiency

If you can, try to arrange an annual home energy audit to pick up on any cracks or fractures in your apartment or villa that might be leaching precious degrees into the outdoors.

Now for the fixtures, fittings and fiddly stuff. Long-life, energy-efficient LED bulbs really do make a difference (and they don’t blow and leave you in the dark so often), while investing in a pressure cooker could save you valuable cooking time and energy usage in the kitchen.

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Not leaving electricals and chargers on standby is always good practice too: Try attaching several devices to a multi-plug extension cable, allowing you to shut everything down with the flick of a single switch when leaving the house in a hurry.

Again, try to come up with your own methods, as the best energy-saving tricks depend on your own lifestyle and how you were using energy in the first place. The truly committed can cut out entire devices: There are hand-powered coffee makers, hand-powered blenders, even wind-up radios and washing machines (yes, really!).

But being eco-friendly in Dubai doesn’t require a return to the dark ages, and it can be equally green to double down on tech.

There’s now a range of apps and gadgets that enable you to switch appliances in your home off and on as needed when you’re out and about, or turn off any rogue left-on lights needlessly guzzling energy, from the comfort of you favourite armchair.

Up on the roof – install solar panels or a ‘green roof’

Alongside the small switches and swaps, there are some big, statement moves for those willing to make sweeping changes to a home.

Solar panels are an established option for the eco-conscious builder. While initial costs may apply, homeowners could save money in the long term as well as denting their energy usage, by harnessing the sun’s rays as a planet-friendly energy source.

Another rooftop solution? How about installing a ‘green roof’ or ‘living roof’. Halfway between a regular roof and a garden, this basically means having live plants or grass occupy the space. Companies can coat your chosen building with earth and vegetation, insulating against noise and temperature, boosting air quality, and providing a verdant oasis for wildlife even in the heart of the city.

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