Want to live a more eco-friendly life in the capital? Many of the city’s outlets are ditching plastic straws and paper to help the environment. Here’s where you can dine and stay with a clear conscience

Royal Orchid

The pan-Asian chain only offers plastic cutlery if requested by guests, on eat-in or delivery. The brand, which serves Thai and Chinese dishes, is also removing plastic water glasses and plastic water bottles.
Various locations including The Galleria, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, daily 11.30am to 11pm. Tel: (02) 6777301. Taxi: Galleria on Al Maryah. thegalleria.ae

Hilton Abu Dhabi

The hotel’s staff saved more than 250 gallons of water as part of a month-long initiative to reduce water waste during March and April this year. Water metres monitored water usage throughout the hotel and staff were trained on water-saving techniques. What’s more, the hotel is planning to end the use of plastic straws and only offer biodegradable paper ones by August 15. Plastic cups and paper cups will be discontinued and replaced with ceramic mugs and a stainless steel water dispenser will be introduced to replace the plastic water gallon.
Hilton Abu Dhabi, Corniche, Al Khubeirah, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 6811900. Taxi: Hilton. hilton.com

The Club

The British club near Mina Port has removed all plastic glasses and replaced them with compostable corn starch cups and has also binned all plastic straws. It’s also launched a “water by the jug” initiative this year across its 13 food and beverage outlets. Guests are encouraged to opt for a jug of water instead of plastic bottles and since March, over 2,000 litre jugs have been served. In the forthcoming months, it will be replacing its one-use cutlery with compostable corn starch equivalents.
The Club, Mina Port, Abu Dhabi, timings vary. Taxi: The Club, Mina. Tel: (02) 6731111. the-club.com

Sofitel Abu Dhabi

The Sofitel saved an equivalent of 110 trees by partnering with Shredex last year to recycle documents and papers. Another partnership with EnviroServe, a recycling company, means that TVs, keyboards, LCD screens are also recycled.
Sofitel Abu Dhabi, Al Markaziyah, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 8137777. Taxi: Sofitel Corniche. sofitel.com

Skinny Genie


You won’t find plastic at healthy food restaurant Skinny Genie. Opened in October last year, the straws are paper and drinks are served in glass jars. Even the takeaways keep up with this theme – containers are made from 100 per cent glass, whether they’re ordered in store or for delivery. If you’re making a purchase, expect reusable cotton bags instead of plastic. In the future Skinny Genie is planning to stop using straws entirely.
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. Taxi: Masdar City. Tel: (02) 5555897. skinny-genie.com

Grand Millennium Al Wahda

The hotel has an ongoing commitment to reducing waste reduction and encourage recycling. In 2017, it shrunk waste by 43 per cent and increased recycling by 17.5 per cent thanks to the introduction of separate collection bins on each floor, kitchens, food and beverage outlets and garbage rooms. The hotel has also started to replace plastic straws with paper ones since July 1.
Grand Millennium Al Wahda, Al Wahda, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 4953916. Taxi: Grand Millennium. millenniumhotels.com

Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi


From September 1, the hotel on Saadiyat will be going more eco-friendly – it will be moving away from single-use plastics and straws will only be available on request.
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 4071234. Taxi: Park Hyatt Saadiyat. abudhabi.park.
hyatt.com

Fairmont Bab Al Bahr

The five star hotel is another looking to reduce food waste from its outlets including Café Sushi and Frankie’s by using a food composter. The waste initiative, which turns food into liquid, reduces food going into landfills.
Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Bain Al Jessrain, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 6543238. Taxi: Fairmont. fairmont.com/babalbahr

Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort

Food wastage in restaurants is a hot topic in the UAE (particularly with regards to all that unwanted food at brunch buffets), but the Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort has found a way to recycle those leftovers – it uses a decomposing machine so food waste is recycled as fertiliser to use for the resort’s organic vegetable farm. The resort has also installed LED bulbs that led to a reduction in energy consumption by 25 per cent and is planning to plant more trees in the resort’s grounds in the future.
Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort, Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 8012222. Taxi: Danat Jebel Dhanna, Western Region. danathotels.com

Southern Sun Abu Dhabi


Southern Sun has introduced energy saving LED lights in all guest rooms, corridors, staircases and parking areas. The South African hotel has also introduced a system to monitor food wastage (such as documenting a reason for wastage and time of day) to identify waste trends.
Southern Sun Abu Dhabi, Al Zahiyah, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 8184888. Taxi: Southern Sun, near Corniche Hospital. tsogosunhotels.com

Al Raha Beach Hotel

Paper is being left firmly in the past at Al Raha Beach Hotel – expect everything to be digital. Guests can access room service menus or guest directories through televisions and guest comments and surveys are taken through iPads. Al Raha is planning to go paperless throughout the whole resort in the forthcoming months.
Al Raha Beach Hotel, Al Raha, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 5080555. Taxi: Al Raha Beach Hotel. alrahabeach.danathotels.com

Dusit Thani

Abu Dhabi’s Thai hotel has introduced energy saving LED lights in over 500 guestrooms, while its lobby water fountain was converted to a garden landscape in 2017, saving approximately 100,000 litres of water. The hotel has an ongoing commitment to reduce food waste following a pilot project in the hotel’s café since June this year. Large food bins are replaced with small bowls at the dumping stations and has since reduced monthly food waste in its staff café by 450kgs per month.
Dusit Thani, Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 6988137. Taxi: Dusit Thani. dusit.com

Hilton Capital Grand

Plastic straws from the hotel’s outlets such as pan-Asian Rouge were removed last month, as have bottles of water from meeting rooms.
Hilton Capital Grand, Al Madina Al Riyadiya, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (02) 6170000. Taxi: Hilton Capital Grand, Airport Road. hilton.com

Bareburger


Bareburger isn’t just home to hefty patties – the restaurant’s floors, ceilings and wall coverings and furniture are made from sustainable or recycled materials.
Marina Mall, Breakwater, Abu Dhabi, Sat to Wed 10am to 11pm, Thur to Fri, 10am to 12pm. Tel: (02) 4411723. Taxi: Marina Mall. bareburger.com

Chhappan Bhog

The Indian restaurant in Al Zahiyah is somewhat of an authority when it comes to Indian sweets. The outlet, which have cut down single-use plastic cutlery and straws, have also got their staff involved. Service and delivery staff will be wearing a badge as a symbol of going green to encourage diners to reduce their plastic use.
Al Zahiyah, Abu Dhabi, daily 9am to 11.30pm. Tel: (02) 6503666. Taxi: between Salam Street and Najda Street, near Adnoc

Coming soon to Abu Dhabi

Jumeirah Saadiyat Island


The hotel may seem like any other luxury resort but there will be no plastic allowed here. Instead, Jumeirah At Saadiyat Island Resort, opening in November this year, will be offering reusable plastic bottles at check-in for all guests and have refillable water stations located around the hotel. The idea is to prevent plastic harming Saadiyat Beach’s native flora and fauna and endangered local residents, the hawksbill turtles. The resort will also have an outright ban on plastic straws, and is aiming to reduce paper wastage (plans include silicone coasters instead of paper ones) and will also use solar power.
jumeirah.com

Abu Dhabi Edition


Part of Edition Hotels’ Stay Plastic Free initiative, Abu Dhabi Edition is a new hotel set to open later this year in Al Bateen – and it will be joining other Edition Hotels across the world by committing to go plastic free by March 2019.
Abu Dhabi Edition, Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi Marina. Tel: (02) 3047002. editionhotels.com/abu-dhabi/

New places to recycle

Separating recyclables in the city will be easier thanks to a series of new recycling stations that have been launched by Abu Dhabi Municipality. Following a successful two-month trial at the entrance of Khalidiyah Park, wood, carboard, mobile phones, used batteries, plastic, wool, metal and cotton will have their own sections, as will clear and coloured glass. In total, there will be 16 stations all over the city.– For more about Abu Dhabi straight to your newsfeed, follow us on Facebook.