Hand in Hand Towards a Cleaner Country

By Anousha Vakani

Dina Al Nahdi, general manager of Entec, speaks about its founding and its many initiatives including their new Yadn Byad (meaning Hand in Hand in Arabic) campaign.

Entec has been a pioneer in environmental services in the Kingdom with their establishment back in 1995. Apart from offering state of the art environmental services in consultation, engineering and training, Entec also comes up with creative initiatives and events as a huge believer in CSR.

Can you describe your journey towards environmentalism and the founding of Entec?
In 1994, my late father had a dream to start a small environmental establishment under my name. He strongly believed in the importance of environmental preservation and despite it being a challenge back in 1994, with patience and perseverance we managed to register Entec Environmental Technology Est. in 1995. I was mentored by my father and learned from environmental consultants of all nationalities and specialties. We flourished and delivered state of the art environmental services including assessments, environmental monitoring, compact waste, water treatment, etc. In 2010 we grew into a company with a strategic partner to add diversity and expand geographically. We added asbestos removal and management to our services as well as environmental training in various aspects including health and safety, environmental management, green building and many others.

One of your green projects, the handprint painting, made it to the Guinness World Records. Can you tell us a little about this project and how you feel about it?
During our years of work in the environmental field, we realized the lack of understanding about the environment as to why it is important to preserve and how it can be preserved. So, in 2013 we launched our CSR campaign called “The Green Letter of Loyalty and Love” with which we made it to the Guinness World Records for the largest environmentally hand printed canvas in the world. It was done with 1,200,000 handprints from all sectors of the community including the handicapped, orphans, school and university students, businessmen and a long list of thousands of teachers, housewives, ministers and more. They attended the environmental interactive lecture then went through the “reuse exhibit,” after which they printed their hands on the 10,325-meter canvas as a vow to preserve our country’s environment and a pledge of love and loyalty to our beloved late King Abdullah.

We need to join hand in hand for a clean city and beautiful country. — Dina Al Nahdi

Another one of your green projects includes an initiative called Yadnbyad. Can you tell us a little about this initiative and how people can get involved?
The massive handprint project led to a campaign that we called the national Hand in Hand initiative for environmental sustainability. We brought in professional educationists and sociologists and as environmentalists we worked together to prepare a program that strives to achieve the following goals:

• Achieve the preservation of the environment through environmental awareness and promoting positive behaviors in society.

• Raise patriotism among all segments of society to maintain the cleanliness of public and private property.

• Contribute to the development of society through the application of social responsibility practices.

• Contribute to the development of volunteers amongst youth and enhancing its practices.

• Promote positive practices amongst government and private organizations through developing a moral sense that leads to sustainable growth.

• Introduce the economic benefits of good environmental practices to society.

• Collect and document date through monitoring the developmental stages of the campaign and its results, for environmental and social behavior statistic use.

What message would you give to the community regarding green living?
Sharek is an Arabic word for join. Be creative and sharek. Be responsible. Use the waste bins in your car, advertise environmental awareness in the media and we also urge everyone to follow us on social media: yadanbyad. We need to join hand in hand for a clean city and a beautiful country with a clear vision, good plans and motivation. All this topped off with a positive attitude; we can overcome any obstacle and reach our full potential. Nothing can stop you but you.