Top 8 Sustainable Living Tips for UAE Residents

2025 was the third warmest year on record globally. While it’s too early to gauge how this year is faring, a quick look at European news headlines from the summer of 2026 pains a grim picture.

 

Accelerated climate action – by each and every one of us – is essential to cut emissions faster. This is especially true for people who reside in the UAE, which has one of the highest ecological footprints in the world.

 

So, join us this summer in making sustainable choices to help lower our collective emissions, protect and restore nature, and live in a greener (and cleaner) way.

How can I live more sustainably in the UAE? 

1.    Reduce your water consumption around the house

Did you know that most of the UAE’s potable water comes from desalination? Reduce your environmental footprint by reducing the amount of water you use – and contribute to the UAE’s target to reduce total demand for water by 21%!

Start with the basics:

·     Turn off the tap while brushing.

·     Take shorter showers (use your phone alarm to time yourself!)

·     Install an aerator to limit the flow of water by 40 to 70%

·     Run the laundry machine only when you have a full load (the same applies to dishwashers)

·     Give frozen foods enough time to thaw at room temperature instead of defrosting them under running water.

Then challenge yourself to go further:

·     Instead of showering, bathe using a single bucket of water.

·     Install a dual flush toilet.

·     If it’s time to upgrade appliances, choose water efficient models.

·     Collect shower water in a bucket while waiting for it to reach the right temperature. Use this water to flush the toilet, wash dishes, or in your garden.

Add more water-saving habits to your daily life with this list of 48 ways to save water in the UAE. Here’s a cheat sheet for saving water in the workplace.

2.   Reduce your energy consumption

Did you know that most of our electricity in the UAE comes from natural gas? The UAE aims to increase the contribution of renewable and nuclear energy to its energy mix, as part of its UAE Energy Strategy 2050.

Reduce your energy consumption around the house with these simple tips and tricks:

·     Switch off lights that are not in use.

·     Upgrade to modern LEDs of Compact Fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Accordingly to TAQA, you could reduce your lighting bill by as much as 90% with the small hack! (Learn more about energy-efficient lighting)

·     Opt for natural lighting when possible.

·     Switch of appliances that are not in use. TVs, DVD players, stereos and computers still use 10-60% even when on stand by!

·     DEWA recommends switching off water heaters during the summer and water coolers during winter to save up to 50% of water heating and cooling energy consumption!

·     Unplug mobile chargers and save up to 50% of the energy used by your mobile phone!

·     Select the ecofriendly settings on your appliances, if they have them

·     Dry your clothes using a clothes rack

·     Turn up one degree. Inspired by WWF UK’s “turn down one degree” in the winter, we challenge you in the UAE to turn up your AC by one degree in the summer, to reduce consumption. According to TAQA, air conditioning accounts for about half of all electricity consumption in Abu Dhabi!

·     Learn to love 24 degrees Celsius – the ideal temperature for comfort and economy (and environment). A quick trick to maintain cool temperatures in summer months is to keep your curtains closed during the sunniest parts of the day.

·     Allow hot food to cool down for about a half hour before placing it in your fridge

If you are in an area that supports solar panels, consider generating your own solar energy! Learn more about the Shams Dubai initiative here and Abu Dhabi’s self supply policy here.

3.   Save 1/3 of food from going to waste

Did you know that more than 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste? Check out this excellent resource from WWF to get better at reducing food waste. After all, it’s not just the food that goes to waste but also all the natural resources that go into producing it.

UAE mums share their tips on reducing food waste in this post: Learn how to Reduce #FoodWaste from our very own Master Chefs, our Mums!

4.   Transform your leftovers into scrumptious meals

Did you know, the average UAE resident wastes about 197 kg of food per year!

Let’s start by tackling leftovers. Spruce them up into exciting meals with some help from the internet. We recently came across this brilliant list of recipes in Gulf News, with easy recipes to transform yesterday’s chicken into today’s Lemon Tahini Chicken Flatbread; leftover price into Crispy rice and veggie pancakes; and cold mashed potatoes into Pan-seared potato dumplings. Add a gourmet touch with some sage butter!

Composting organic waste – fruit and vegetable peels, seeds, excess food – is another great option. Learn more in this interview with the founder of The Waste Lab UAE.  

5.   Buy funny looking foods

Hero Go estimates that around 1 million tonnes of food is wasted each year in the UAE.

A simple way to tackle this mounting challenge is by choosing the ugly produce. This misshapen potato or carrot you see at the store, or a service provider like HeroGo in the UAE that offers funny looking foods or excess products to keep them out of landfills.

Not sure what to do with funny looking food? Try out these recipes.

6.   Choose local produce

Did you know the UAE is introducing 140 new locally produced food items between this year and next? It’s part of a wider push to increase local food production to strengthen the nation’s food security.

This means that locally produced food is getting easier to access in the UAE every year. Dairy, poultry, seafood, leafy grains, mountain herbs, vegetables and an increasing variety of fruit (including berries!) are now sporting “made in UAE” tags.

So the next time you load up on groceries, avoid the environmental footprint of imported foods, and choose local produce. Not sure where to start? Check out labels at the supermarket or buy from local farms like Emirates BioFarm, Mazaraa, Pure Harvest farms; markets like Ripe Market; and look out for “locally grown” listings like these at Barakat and UNS Farms.

7.  Say “No” to single-use plastics

Did you know that the average person in the UAE consumes 94 kg of plastic per year?

This is a tremendous problem, because plastic doesn’t just ‘go away.’ It sticks around, taking hundreds of years to degrade. Plastic waste isn’t restricted to our landfills. A huge amount, 8 million metric tons, finds its way into our oceans every year.

So pledge to reduce your plastic consumption, and say no to single-use plastics. An easy way to start is buy carrying a reusable shopping bag in your daily purse or handbag. Carry your own containers and bags when buying groceries. Make it a habit to carry a reusable water bottle everyday – and a reusable tumbler for coffee to avoid single-use cups.

8.   Volunteer for nature in the UAE

A lot of sustainable living tips revolve around doing less. What if we told you that you could do more of this one thing, to help share a more sustainable UAE?

Spend more time volunteering for nature in the UAE through Emirates Nature-WWF’s Leaders of Change programme! Join thousands of UAE residents and local communities who are planting native trees (that require less water compared to some other plants), fishing plastic out of natural ecosystems, participating in litter survey and collecting data about waste to inform policy and conservation strategies.

Browse through hundreds of activities at the Leaders of Change website, including activities to measure your eco footprint, understand the concept of planetary boundaries, join Nurdle Hunts, monitor native trees and more.