Transguard Launches Sustainability Garden And Water Conservation Projects
Transguard Group, a leading UAE-based business services provider, has announced two unique initiatives that underscore the company’s commitment to improving its impact on the environment: a sustainability garden and a water conservation project that repurposes condensate from air conditioning units.
The first, a sustainability garden, features a living plant wall constructed from upcycled plastic bottles as its centrepiece. Located in one of Transguard’s accommodations, the garden area – which includes a variety of plants such as allamanda and other mixed flowers – was designed, painted, planted and organized by a team of volunteers from the company’s headquarters; completing the sustainability garden are nine hand-crafted picnic tables that were built by trainees at Transguard’s Centre of Excellence. Wi-Fi is also available in the seating area, making it easy for residents of the accommodation to virtually connect with their friends and family.
In addition to the sustainability garden, an affordably-priced convenience store for Transguard staff, TMart, has also recently opened its doors to residents of the accommodation. This is the first store of its kind created by Transguard, which plans to use the Al Quoz location as the blueprint for shops in the company’s other accommodations.
“The original idea was to create a new recreational space for our site-based staff,” said Greg Ward, Transguard’s Managing Director. “That’s where we started, but my team kept evolving the concept until it included more and more wonderful features like the sustainability garden and seating area. I’m very proud of the volunteers who put in the time and energy to make this outdoor space possible.”
The second initiative from Transguard is a water conservation project that captures and collects waste condensate from air conditioning units and recycles it for everyday tasks. The result is a dramatic reduction in water consumption: For example, a traditional car wash will use 79 gallons of water; a car washed with the recycled condensate uses only 6 gallons of water, a reduction of 92%.
The pilot programme, which is also located in one of the company’s accommodations, has already saved 10,824 imperial gallons of water since the programme began in February 2019. Once implemented across all Transguard accommodations in Dubai, the project is expected to save 4.5 million gallons of water and to generate more than AED 280,000 in annual savings for Transguard. Coming full circle, the water used to irrigate Transguard’s sustainability garden is sourced from this same condensate.
“As part of our ‘Think Green’ campaign – a component of our Corporate Social Responsibility programme – conserving water and recycling are a priority for Transguard, and both of these initiatives tick those boxes,” Ward concluded. “I’m excited to take these initatives into our other accommodations as the year progresses.”
