We are blessed with the tranquil beauty of the desert surrounding us and a peace of mind awaiting anyone who wishes to wander through our cool vast deep evergreen forests.  This is the sixth Laundry and Dry Cleaning company I have worked for, in three different countries, since leaving college in 1976.

Since 1990 we have produced a company calendar.  Each calendar has a normal company approach to its layout and nothing too dramatic changes from year to year.  Although, to produce the calendar, normally it takes three months from original art work ideas to the final print.  We commence work around August or September to finalize the calendar for mid-December.  For our 1996 calendar we have produced a very different, highly original calendar with far reaching consequences and a worldwide message to deliver.  These are the sequence of events leading to the production of our 1996 calendar.  I tend to jump from year to year so take note of the year changes.

In 1988 I had the idea to utilize the artistic talents of the students from the British School here in Riyadh, as a means of advertising our company through their artwork.  Although most company artwork is precise and calculated I could not visualize how I could incorporate the artistic talents of the students with my own requirements.  So I left the idea in the back of my mind trying to find a company artwork subject which would suit the not so precise and calculated artwork of 6 to 15 year olds.

During my first year here in Riyadh, 1987, I had wanted to plant trees and flowers in and around our factory and residential accommodation area which totals 27,300M², 210M long x 130M width.  The major problem was the topsoil; we had NO TOPSOIL, just thousand of years accumulation of dust, and secondly, below the 12 inches of dust was solid rock.  We dug the first 40 holes with our hands and planted the trees with locally purchased soil.  To the surprise of most people the trees took root and began to grow.  That was 12 years ago.

Our factory washing water supply comes from our own 130 meter deep natural water well, pumped to the desalination processing equipment prior to entering the factory for use.  Due to our large water consumption we decided to recycle our washing water onto the land allowing the planting of many more trees, bushes and flowers.  First we had to collect the used washing water, treat it to remove any impurities and arrange a pumping system to irrigate the whole network, bearing in mind that we use 200,000 liters of water daily and we had to store 3 days used washing water in a storage area.  During the process of building our storage area, which took 2 months to complete, we began to notice heavy deposits of rust on our existing metal pipe work throughout the factory and accommodation areas.  We decided to change the whole system from the first to the last corner of the company.  We installed over 3000 running meters of plastic pipes and fittings.  Plastic does not rust and has an infinite life usage.  During this work, of pipe re-installation, we re-designed much of the pipe work to incorporate recycling processes.  We designed and installed our own recycling plant.  These are common throughout many laundries in the world.  10% of all washing water is recycled, plus, we recycle 20% of our water for flushing our toilet systems.

Our Baladiah “Government” water is used only for domestic purposes and not in the factory for washing.  We had noted, when installing our new piping systems, that the water pressure was not consistent.  Some taps produced 30 liters of water per minute and some as low as 5 liters per minute.  We decided the correct flow should be 12 liters per minute.  In order to achieve this we installed pressure-regulating valves on each line.  Further to this we installed push taps throughout the company whereby pressure had to be applied to the tap to get water, once the pressure is released the water stops.  This dramatically reduces the consumption of water and ensures that no taps are left running.  We also installed, on each line, water meters to check our monthly consumption.  Today our average consumption is 155 liters of water per person per day.  To me this seemed a great amount of water for 1 person, which is equivalent to 8½ boxes of bottled water per person per day.  Having checked other standards our consumption is low.  In Europe the average is 250 liters per person per day.  In the Middle East 450-500 liters of water is used per person per day.

Having installed all of our Baladiah “Government” water pipes with pressure control valves and water meters, it seemed ridiculous just to throw all of this water away.  So we designed and built a domestic water collection system including sewage waste.  The system is correctly designed to filter through the water to a clean condition.  The filtered water is then mixed with our waste laundry water prior to being pumped through our entire irrigation network onto our trees, bushes and flower gardens.

We have planted over 10,000 trees and bushes and, today, we still continue to plant bushes and flowers, although we are running out of space and the owners tell me also money.

Our company accommodation houses 150 employees.  We previously threw away all food waste from our two kitchens but have now arranged to collect all the waste food and store in our own compost area.  We also have a small amount of waste paper and packaging materials, this we arranged to incinerate.  The ash from the burning is recycled back onto our trees and bushes as fertilizer.

We have also provided our irrigation water to all our neighboring residential gardens, all receive the water free and are happy to save their own government water and I am happy to promote diplomatic relations.

Coat hangers, used in Dry Cleaning are collected from our shops and customers and recycled.  Each month we collect approximately 250kg, but it could be much more!

Jeddah 1996 – 97
During our new factory and shop installation in Jeddah, we again looked at environmental issues.

A new technology has recently been developed in the Laundry & Dry Cleaning business.  Dry Cleaning is not the most environmentally safe practice.  In order to reduce the demand for Dry Cleaning a new process called ‘Wet Cleaning’ is now available.  Wet Cleaning employs the same principle as normal washing but new advanced chemicals and technology allow 70% of previously Dry cleanable clothes to be washed.  We have purchased, these are now in operation, Wet Cleaning Washing machines for our Jeddah Factory.

August – 1996
I had neither finalized the artwork ideas for our 1997 Calendar, nor could I begin to foresee any new and original concepts.  Original artwork is always so hard to conceive.  Whilst sitting in my office, the old ideas of utilizing students for the artwork of our company calendar came to my mind.  Having put so much time and energy into environment management at Saudi Automatic Laundry the thought crossed my mind of bringing together these 3 concepts, Company Calendar, Students Artwork and the Environment.

The key to this project is the subject matter for the children to paint.  The environment is a major concern to us all; the child could paint in their own innocent endearing way and still capture the hearts and minds of their audience.

I wrote to the British School on the 29th of August 1996 and received permission to start the project.  I had only expected 10 or 15 paintings but when I was asked to collect their paintings there were 142 paintings produced.  All of these paintings were exhibited in Greenhouse Supermarket in Riyadh during the holy month of Ramadan in 1997.

We selected five paintings to use on our 1997 calendar and commenced the printing.  We printed 50,000 copies and distributed them through our offices in Riyadh and Jeddah.  We also used the student’s artwork on many other of our advertising areas, invoices, company letter, etc.

Upon seeing the finished calendar, after returning from my holidays in early January 1997, I was struck by how simple the idea was.  After a few days the thought occurred to me that other companies throughout the world could follow the same practice, if they would ONLY make the time and effort?  The issues raised could be Local, National, International or Worldwide.

Through these paintings, and our company calendar, the children are teaching those who do not know of these problems and reminding those of us who have forgotten.  Most issues concerning our world are known, but how often are we reminded? unfortunately, very rarely.

There are so many forms of advertising throughout the world, yet how many remind us daily of the problems facing our Planet Earth? Air Pollution! Ozone Concerns! Acid Rain! Population Explosion! Water Pollution! Toxic Wastes! Radiation Perils! Species Extinction! Fishery Depletion! Deforestation!

Newspapers, Magazines, Packaged Goods, Billboards, Television Programs – how many of these are produced each day throughout the world?  How many of these carry daily advertising regarding major issues concerning our lives?  So few.  How many could if we made the effort?  So many.

1998
We were requested by the management of Arabian Homes Jeddah, in November 1998, for the children living in their compound to paint environmental artwork for our 1999 calendar.  We received 33 paintings and arrange for a local artist Mrs. Rita to select, with Mr. Philippe Tison, Services Manager Arabian Homes and myself, the final paintings.

We managed to squeeze on to our calendar eleven paintings.  Our calendar is only one sheet of paper 34cm x 25cm with twelve months, eleven paintings, one logo and a few telephone and fax numbers.  We printed 100,000 copies of our calendar.

We have arranged an exhibition of all the children’s paintings and our company computer art leading on from the selected painting, plus, the original print and art work from our printers.  The exhibition was held at Arabian Homes, Jamjoom Commercial Center and Hera’a Souk during the month of January and February 1999.

The exhibition follows the development of the first Saudi Automatic Laundry calendar, 1991, through to our first environmental calendar, 1996, to the full printing procedure of 1999’s Arabian Homes Saudi Automatic Laundry Calendar.  We have a total no. of 100 artwork pieces running 50 continuous meters with written notes and information explaining each subject matter.

Our environmental calendars are distributed through our branches in Riyadh and Jeddah, plus we post them to ALL Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, Embassies and to world-wide organizations.

Our reasons are – (1) We aim to educate our children by bringing these thoughts to their minds.  (2) We trust that our calendars will be a daily reminder to everyone  to protect planet earth.  (3) We hope other companies will see our calendars and take a little of their own advertising space to follow the same or similar ideas.

Finally, a big thank you to all of the children who painted for our 1999 Saudi Automatic Laundry Calendar without who’s wonderful paintings our calendar would be no more than just another waste of several trees.