100 Years: One Legacy

• EEG wanted to celebrate the legacy of the founding father of the UAE, in a meaningful way touching upon his love for the environment and the youth • EEG wanted to highlight the impact of advertising and marketing industry on the environment and in increasing plastic waste nationally and globally • EEG aimed at focusing on up-cycling and recycling to promote the concept of Circular Economy in the UAE • EEG wanted to provide a recognition platform for the beautiful artwork from the young minds in the UAE • EEG worked to support the centres for determined students by engaging various stakeholders EEG launched the ‘100 Years: One Legacy’ Project to honour the “Year of Zayed” and align it with environmental conservation and sustainability. In this regard, EEG selected 1,200 paintings from its annual Environmental Drawing Competition that was also based on the theme – “Year of Zayed”. A billboard was produced using the paintings of the students in a collage, it was displayed on Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai for a month with the unique message – “I am not just a billboard”. Next, the billboard was transformed into 200 unique, high end bags individually numbered (100 male and 100 female). The bags were sold and the money generated was distributed among 3 centres for determined students in Dubai. This whole project also shed light on the size of the advertising and marketing industry in the UAE and its environmental impact. It also proved that billboards can be diverted from the landfills and be made into useful products. The project was responsible for introducing a new way for the advertising and marketing industry in the UAE on how to conduct their operations and businesses in a more sustainable way. This was a one-off project – but EEG has the know-how and experience, it will be very happy to work with the industry to transform it, and to create a secondary market using the billboard material to produce useful and trendy products that can in turn be sold to benefit the special needs schools and centres. Thereby, achieving multiple goals: 1) Divert waste from landfills and help the UAE to achieve the target of diverting 75% waste from landfills by 2025. 2) Promote the concept of circular economy by reusing material and repurposing . 3) Create job opportunities through the development of secondary industry built on waste as raw material. 4) Reduce the consumption of resources thereby saving water and energy. 5) Contribute effectively in reducing CO2 emissions, thus achieving tangible results in Climate Action.