#IAMTHESUSTAINABILIST

NILA PENDAROVSKI

General Manager, Rove Dubai Marina

Personally, I am still on a mission to live a green and sustainable life.

I can honestly say that I grew up in the dark, because my parents always switched off the lights when they left a room, and energy conservation, recycling and reusing was and continues to be just a normal part of life when growing up in Germany, as it is in many other European countries.

Throughout my adult life, I have lived in various countries, and it never ceases to shock me when I see a wasteful attitude towards the finite resources of the planet.

Some years ago, I watched a documentary about Ocean Rescue and was shocked to learn about the amount of plastic in the ocean. Later that day, I received table tennis paddles and, after unpacking them, I ended up with a mountain of plastic. So, I decided it was time to put my money where my mouth was and made the decision to actively participate in reducing, reusing and recycling.

Thankfully, with Rove, I have just the right platform and freedom to go crazy with my sustainability efforts. My team at Rove Downtown were able to implement the ‘Green Key Initiatives’ as one of the first hotels in the country and the first Rove hotel to do so.

Green Key is a voluntary eco-label, which operates internationally and requires meeting certain standards in all aspects of hotel operations. In our hotels, we do things like garbage separation, recycling, food composting, and more. Overall, we reduce plastic wherever possible to help the ocean, which we have

made our mission. Moreover, our pools are saltwater pools, which are much better for the environment, and, on the F&B side of things, our chefs work with locally sourced food where possible. When the DTCM (Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing) rolled out their Sustainability Initiative in Dubai, we were honoured to be the first hotel group to pass with flying colours.

Personally, I am still on a mission to live a green and sustainable life. Being plastic-free is a big deal in our household, and we like to shop by reusing bags for fruits and veggies, as well as other groceries. But there is still a lot of work to be done in all aspects of life, and I will continue to find better solutions for not only myself, but also the business I work in, because it’s the right thing to do.