Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 27 May, 2015 2:22 pm |

McDonald’s UAE, with the support of the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), concluded their year-long CSR initiative, ‘Planting a Greener Future’ last month. As a part of this initiative 350 indigenous trees namely Ghaf, sidra, Neem, Sammar, Date Palm were planted in an effort to teach children the importance of maintaining a green lifestyle and exemplifying the ways in which the campaign was helping the environment.

McDonald’s UAE and EEG teamed up with seven government schools across the seven Emirates over a one year period including (Al Aqsa School – Dubai, Shaikha Bint Saeed- Ajman- National Charity School – Sharjah, Bint Al Shatee’ School – Umm Al Quwain, Al Murisheed School – Fujairah, Taryam Omran – Ras Al Khaimah, Al Waleed bin Abdulmalik – Abu Dhabi). The initiative implemented an ongoing effort to improve the local communities and highlight the environmental benefits of the children’s actions.

Rafic Fakih, Partner and Managing Director of McDonald’s UAE attended the final activity in Abu Dhabi, noting McDonald’s UAE to be proud to have made such a valuable contribution to the UAE community. He commented: “‘Planting a Greener Future’ has really highlighted the beneficial impact of the students’ actions on the environment. McDonald’s UAE is now looking ahead to further strengthen our partnership with EEG, and looks forward to seeing the long term results our collaboration with EEG has had on the participating schools.

Each school was to be ‘made-over’ by replacing 5000 m2 of normal soil for Sweet soil, which equates to the size of a football field, and implementing a fully-fledged irrigation system complete to enhance the growth of a freshly laid grass area in each location, and planting a selection of indigenous tree species.

Habiba Al Marashi, Chairperson, EEG said, “We are thrilled to see participating schools successfully embracing their newly-learnt green-finger skills developed through the 'Planting a Greener Future' initiative. EEG endeavours to communicate the endless benefits alongside maintaining an environmentally friendly lifestyle to youth throughout the UAE."

Emirates Environmental Group and McDonald’s UAE are committed to the ongoing support of their community, and look forward to seeing the long term results of the ‘Planting a Greener Future’ campaign.