Simple Ways to Go Green in Amman, Jordan

Posted on by Chelsea Jimenez Juneidi

I am known as “Om Bedoon Kees” at the establishments I frequent often because I quickly reject any type of bag given to me with a “bedoon kees, shukran”. “Bedoon kees”, for non-Arabic speakers, literally just means “without bag”. I always get a few puzzled looks when I whip out my own bags at the supermarket, but that’s okay because I just can’t fathom to be part of this vicious cycle of putting 1 item in each plastic bag. After living in a country (India) where plastic bags were banned and it was common culture, and honestly, a requirement, that you bring your own reusable carry bag, it became more than a habit, but a lifestyle. When I moved to Jordan I literally cringed at the thought of my increase in carbon footprint, from the amount I would be driving just to get places I used to be able to walk to in my neighborhood in India, to the increase in single-use plastics (and a whole lot of styrofoam, too), I thought I’d share with others the simple hacks I’m implementing to try to do my part and cut down on my environmental impact while living in the land of plastic bags and water bottles.

  1. Bring your own bags to the supermarket.
    • Keep them stockpiled in your car trunk always so you don’t forget to take them when you’re leaving the house.
  2. Bring your own bags that you reuse and reuse when buying fruits and vegetables.
    • I prefer going to places where they weigh it all at the checkout because then they just ring it all up at once. If you buy at Cozmo, for example, they put the sticker on each bag to then later scan at the checkout and it can get confusing if you have a bag full of old stickers all over it. To avoid this, they sometimes would give me a styrofoam fruit tray to put all the stickers on, but even that I want to avoid, so I usually buy my fruit and veggies only at Panda, so I can pack everything in my own overused bags and then have the cashier weigh them and scan them same time at checkout.
    • Buy reusable mesh bags for fruits and vegetables on Iris.jo (they’re made in Jordan, too!)
  3. Ask to bag your own fruits/veggies instead of buying the ones on styrofoam trays and wrapped in cling film.
    • The trays are for convenience, but such a waste! Any fruit & veggie shop or supermarket will have crates of the items they’re packing and you can just ask to take directly from the crate instead.
  4. Limit online delivery.
    • Everyone loves things to your doorstep and sometimes the convenience factor is inevitable if you’re caught in a bind with guests on their way, but the amount of fuel it takes to deliver to you and the amount of plastic bags they pack everything in, just doesn’t make sense. In India, when we ordered online everything was delivered in crates to your doorstep and the delivery executive would take the crates back to be reused. I haven’t seen that here in Amman with any online delivery platform…*hint hint*
  5. Bring your own Tupperware/packaging to the bakery.
    • I go to Paradise Bakery a lot for freshly baked fatayer and I always tote along my massive IKEA tupperware and have them pack the items in it. They just lightly half-attach the stickers to the lid for easy scanning and removal.
  6. WALK.
    • When I first moved to my neighborhood I was having trouble digesting the fact that there was no supermarket in walking distance. After a couple of months of living here, I decided I’d try to walk to the closest supermarket and bakery strip mall near my house. Turns out it took me less than 15 minutes to get there! Now I can’t carry a lot on these trips, but it makes me happy to know I can walk to shops that I initially deemed way too far away. It actually is quicker for me to walk to that strip mall than drive there from my house if you can believe it or not.
  7. Wash and reuse food containers.
    • Many of the plastic containers you get can be reused safely and some are even good enough quality that they can even be put in the dishwasher. If they’re thinner plastic that you don’t want to re-use for food items for fear of plastic seeping into your food, you can keep them aside for organizing non-food items like pens, small toys, crayons, and other miscellaneous items. I keep a stock pile of the plastic containers for when I need to bring something to a party or to deliver home-baked goods to the neighbor. I have dedicated a cupboard in my kitchen to all these plastic items instead of throwing them out.
    • Also, did you know?… Those plastic trays with lids that you get when you buy hummus in larger portions at places like Falafel House, you can bring them back to refill and they will give you a pretty big discount on the refill. For example, I buy the hummus tray that’s 1.30 JD and when I bring back the packaging to reuse, I only pay 1 JD for the hummus.
  8. Install an RO filter in your home.
    • It’s literally the easiest thing you can do to save on all the plastic bottles and the need to “order” water jugs. Think of the carbon footprint on those packaged water jugs (no matter if they come in glass jugs instead of plastic) delivered to your home. Some people will argue that RO filters are more harmful to the environment than plastic bottles, but I can’t see the reasoning. Yes, it’s true RO filters waste about 3-5 liters for every 1 liter of filtered water they output, but if you can find a way to save the waste-water and put it in your garden, your carbon footprint is nearly neutral. Also, plastic is not a renewable resource like water, so plastic production will always have a heavier impact on the environment than water production.
    • Buy an RO Filter in Jordan here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Water-plus-100084914044648/
  9. Bug your favorite restaurants/establishments to install RO filters.
    • Go ahead, charge me for that RO filtered water, but please don’t give me a plastic bottle! Every restaurant I go to I send an Instagram message to tell them to go for an RO filter instead. The more people that put pressure on them, the more likely they will change their wasteful ways.
  10. Carry reusable water bottles with you.
    • Bring extras if it’s a long day out. I know it’s not fun to be toting around a million things including heavy water bottles, but it’s necessary if you don’t want to fall into the plastic water bottle trap.
  11. Collect and bring your recycling to Be! Recycling Centers.
    • I have 5 different bins at my house (luckily we worked with the contractor to make this happen in a discreet way). Paper, Plastic, Cans, Food Waste, Landfill. We stockpile all clean paper, plastic, and cans and keep them in our garage storage unit and every Saturday we head to the Be! Cozmo 7 Circle Recycling Center (there’s also a unit at City Mall). As long as your recycling is clean, it won’t stink or attract bugs, so there’s no harm in keeping it stored in the basement for a week (or even more). Here’s a list of what is and is not accepted at Be! Recycling Centers
  12. Bring your own reusable bags and containers to buy rice/pulses/spices/nuts.
    • I must admit I haven’t started doing this yet, but it’s the next on my list to try. I usually buy lentils, rice, chickpeas, spices, nuts, etc. at a roastery called “Al Rayhan”. There you tell them how much you want and they scoop it from big barrels into resealable plastic baggies. Why not bring your own bags to pack them items into? Or just bring back the bags the resealable bags they packed them in originally and have them refill.
  13. Make your own cleaning products.
    • Floor cleaner recipe (marble-friendly): 3 TBS rubbing alcohol, 1.5 cups water, 1 teaspoon Nabulsi soap, essential oil of choice (optional)
    • Bathroom cleaner recipe: 1:1 vinegar and water
    • Laundry detergent recipe: 1/2 cup epsom salt, 1.5 cups sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), 1.5 cups sodium carbonate (washing soda), 1/4 cup sea salt, 20-25 drops essential oils
    • Window cleaner recipe: 2 cups water, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon dish soap
  14. Cook more and eat less packaged/processed foods.
    • This is not only good for your health, but also great for the environment especially when you pair it with the other tips in this article like bringing your own bags, packaging, and buying locally grown products.
  15. Join a flea market group on Whatsapp or Facebook.
  16. Buy local products.
    • Buying local is one of the best ways to support the local economy and also to ensure that your food isn’t causing a huge environmental impact (some food can travel 1000s of kilometers before it reaches your plate!). With the current boycott culture, a lot of supermarkets and shops in Jordan clearly advertise their MADE IN JORDAN products. When it comes to fruit and veggies, buy seasonal, local grown products. If they’re not clearly marked you can always ask the shop keeper “min ween?” which means “where is this from?” Also, stopping at side of the road fruit and vegetable stalls is an easy way to support local farmers. To help you choose locally grown easier, check out this seasonal harvest calendar to see which fruit and vegetables are in season in Jordan.
  17. Keep tupperware with you for leftovers you want to bring home from the restaurants.
    • The amount of packaging you will get from packing up the leftovers at the restaurant probably has more of a negative environmental impact than just throwing the food out. Since I absolutely hate food waste, I am trying hard to implement bringing my own packaging if I know we will go for a meal with lots of leftovers. This may seem a bit embarrassing to tote around your own containers, but who really cares?
  18. Bring home your recyclable waste when you eat out.
    • I’m still trying to figure out if there are any establishments that recycle their waste in Amman. I recently spotted on the plastic ice cream cups at Four Winters a phrase saying “Save the penguins. Recycle”. I reached out to them to ask if they’re recycling and they said no, and there are no recycling services for businesses in Jordan. Because it seems businesses do not segregate their waste to recycle, when we go out for a smoothie or an ice cream, for example, I bring back the plastic cups and I wash them at home, reuse them, or bring them to the recycling center if they can’t be reused (even though now I’m confused on if they’ll be recycled or not!)
  19. Reject the paper floor mats and air freshener at the car wash.
    • Everytime I go for a car wash, I tell them “bedoon wara bil ard”, my simplistic (and probably incorrect, but understood) way of saying please don’t put the disposable papers on the floor. I also use a few gestures to tell them not to give the disposable air freshener. Not only is it full of toxic chemicals that we shouldn’t be breathing, but it’s going to end up in the landfill someday.

Have you found other ways to lower your carbon footprint in Jordan?

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