Greening the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca

Initially revealed on EdenKeeper.org

The Hajj season of 2016 is underway in Saudi Arabia and the world’s consideration is finely tuned to the environmental impacts of 4 million pilgrims converging on Mecca. The pilgrimage crowd is phenomenal and makes an try to “inexperienced” the hajj, as we’ll cowl on this substitute, are continuously enhancing and as revolutionary as ever.

Happening between the eighth and thirteenth days of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul Hijjah, this 12 months’s hajj occurs from the ninth to the 14th of September. That’s an important pilgrimage on the planet, reenacting the events of 1,400 years prior to now when the Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon.

A Utterly Choreographed Ocean of Worshippers

Residents of over 150 worldwide areas participate in rituals all via on daily basis, en masse, on the Grand Mosque in Mecca and throughout the space of Mina, about 8km/5 miles away. The 5 on daily basis prayers are carried out in astonishing synchronicity by tons of of 1000’s of Muslims, in uniform traces requiring no instructing or steering the least bit.

Shoulder to shoulder and with merely adequate home in entrance and behind to bow and prostrate, traces of worshippers form on the primary sound of the calls to prayer. Elevating every palms in salute to God, worshippers bow, kneel, prostrate, and stand repeatedly like a splendidly choreographed ocean stretching previous the bounds of imaginative and prescient.

Guaranteeing Personal Safety All through Hajj

A lot of upgraded practices and companies have vastly improved the environmental have an effect on of so many people in such a small place. The dominion of Saudi Arabia is continuously striving to applicable weaknesses that crop up as a result of the Hajj crowds proceed to develop.

Facilities have repeatedly been enlarged, transportation packages have expanded, and security forces have multiplied. Public consciousness campaigns have moreover enormously helped to dramatically enhance pilgrim safety and in the reduction of environmental damage. However, as was seen throughout the unfortunate stampede of 2015, the hazards all through Hajj are nonetheless nonetheless extreme.

This 12 months, efforts to handle crowds are being redoubled. The private safety of every single pilgrim is taken very considerably all through Hajj. E-bracelets are literally being issued to all people upon entry, serving to to keep up observe of all people. Barcoded and associated to a smartphone app generally known as “Hajj Bracelet,” Eissa Rawas of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj explains, “This new know-how helps a lot when a pilgrim is hurt or misplaced.”

Rawas gives, “In case you occur to open the app, focus it on the barcode written on the bracelet, you may instantly get all of the personal particulars of each pilgrim, collectively together with his/her image, title, age, nationality etcetera.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmgqmDvywIA

Greening the Hajj Setting

Although the massive properly being hazards to personal safety are inclined to acquire quite a few media consideration, there are totally different properly being factors which can seem at first inconsequential, like flies. Sadly, 4 million people converging on an area of solely 463 sq. miles for a few week creates chaos throughout the native waste disposal firms.

Large garbage vans are merely unable to get into Mecca’s congested streets, so trash piles up and begins rotting beneath the brand new Saudi Arabian photo voltaic. It begins stinking, too, and this attracts hordes of flies. Flies are liable for transferring illnesses, so the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has utilized one more attention-grabbing inexperienced measure to help defend Hajj pilgrims’ properly being.

Working with KSA, US biotechnology agency BiOWiSH Utilized sciences has developed a solution to forestall waste-related odors. Making use of a mixture of naturally occurring (not genetically modified) microorganisms at trash disposal web sites is proving to be a terrific success. The product is 100 laptop pure and is safe for every people and the setting.

Starting with a small verify website online in 2014, the Hajj operations administration workforce reported a serious low cost in pesticide use, along with a dramatic low cost in medicines for coughs and infections distributed all through Hajj. An even bigger verify in 2015 equipped even bigger outcomes, utilized to an even bigger area serviced by 160 large trash compactors.

Taking out the trash may be an insurmountable downside, nevertheless the smart combination of trash compactors and an pure biospray to forestall flies from multiplying and transmitting illnesses is an revolutionary decision. Now, offered as a powder, teams with sprayers mix it with water after which spray waste and waste-related areas by strolling into all of the areas the place trash collections vehicles cannot get in.

Rising Photograph voltaic Vitality in Saudi Arabia

That scorching summer season photo voltaic beating down on the heads of Hajj pilgrims could be being taken larger good thing about in Saudi Arabia these days. In every single place within the kingdom, KSA is starting to detoxify from its notorious dependancy to grease.

The present announcement of an daring 9.5 GW renewable energy objective by 2023 will see rather more photo voltaic power crops working throughout the nation rapidly.

Residents of Mecca are wanting forward to solar-powered electrical power from a 100 megawatt (MW) utility-scale photograph voltaic PV plant throughout the space. Contracted out to Rolls-Royce and Widespread Electrical, the plant has a scheduled price date of 2018, and is anticipated to generate 385 gigawatt-hours per 12 months (GWh/yr).

Umbrella Use Evokes Personal Photograph voltaic Vitality

Whereas prepared for Mecca’s energy present to point out inexperienced, Hajj pilgrims are turning to a further personal, transportable photograph voltaic energy present. Impressed by the prevalent use of umbrellas to protect pilgrims from the brand new photo voltaic, a couple of ingenious techpreneurs have designed a “photograph voltaic umbrella.”

For over forty years, Saudi Arabian environmental engineer Kamel Badawi has been an annual volunteer all through Hajj to assist pilgrims. He’s conscious of first-hand how helpful the umbrella is in Mecca. They’re always being utilized in Hajj, says Badawi.

“However,” Badawi relates, “the pilgrims solely use the umbrella as a sort of security from the photo voltaic. No one has considered the umbrella is likely to be used for a few goal. As soon as we started occupied with this, we found that we would arrange a built-in fan to keep up the particular person cool.”

Badawi and his Palestinian advisor and companion, Manal Dandis, generated the fan’s power by the use of photograph voltaic cells embedded onto the umbrella. Establishing on this good idea, the pair added a USP battery charger with three retailers throughout the take care of, along with a GPS system, and a flashlight, all solar-powered. The GPS system comes with a cell app enabling instant identification of every umbrella.

Badawi explains, “This suggests we always have electrical power to not solely price mobile-phones, nevertheless pc methods as properly. You’ll price any machine that could be associated by the use of USB.” He gives, “The GPS system will help households preserve collectively by serving to each specific one that has an umbrella merely decide the place he or she is.”

The Kafya, as a result of the umbrella is named, has separate switches to manage the flashlight and fan individually, and one different change to routinely open the umbrella. Sturdy adequate to be used as a cane, the light-weight, waterproof materials of the umbrella holds 16 photograph voltaic panels, and the power monetary establishment can also be recharged from a wall outlet.

Dandis elements out, “In Mecca, there are no adapters for electrical power and there are three or 4 million people who should price their cellphones. Usually people lose each other. It is also highly regarded in Saudi Arabia and older people need strolling sticks.”

Hoping to manufacture in any case a million photograph voltaic umbrellas throughout the Middle East, Badawi and Dandis are throughout the early ranges of product distribution. “We started making this umbrella and we merely started connecting with firms,” Dandis tales. “Now we’ll start doing our crowd funding and start selling it on-line to people who need to purchase it.”

Although the Kafya was not however ready for Hajj this 12 months, insha’Allah it’s going to probably be on the market rapidly. I am going to positively be looking for one, as I dearly hope and pray to make Hajj subsequent 12 months. And, from the look of those streets, this is likely to be a very helpful product!

[Learn more about the Hajj Pilgrimage in our previous article: Saudi Arabia Continually Striving for a Green Hajj]