A sunny Friday outside the city of Amman in early spring is a favourite for Jordanians.

Leave the chaotic capital and head north, and you will find bursts of green, shepherds grazing their sheep in unexpected spots, and horses crossing the Zarqa River.

This refreshing landscape might momentarily make you forget Jordan’s decades-long environmental crisis, which includes water scarcity, waste management issues, and soil depletion.

A good example of this contrast is the small village of Nahle, located just a few kilometres from major tourist destinations such as the ancient Roman site of Jerash and the Dibeen Natural Forest Reserve.

The family-owned farm run by Umm Mustafa operates the Al Sultana home, an on-demand restaurant and guesthouse, immersed in a sea of olive, pine, and oak trees.

Yet, even this idyllic setting is not spared from the issue of littering.

As part of their efforts to address this issue, The New Arab visited the area with Green Iris, a Jordanian non-profit organisation dedicated to raising environmental awareness, to observe one of their initiatives.

‘You can’t be a nationalist and do nothing to preserve your land’

“We are here to do a clean-up and plant some trees,” says Isam, a passionate hiker who founded Green Iris two years ago out of frustration.

“I couldn’t accept that when you go camping, it’s normal to leave your trash behind. You have to walk for kilometres just to find a clean spot,” he adds.

In response to this issue, Isam began bringing extra bags while camping, and, together with his friends, they would clean up the areas they visited.

Born in Jordan but raised in Saudi Arabia, and having lived in Canada until a few years ago, Isam realised that there was a gap in Jordan’s civil society landscape.

“I couldn’t find any environmental group to join, so I launched Green Iris,” he shared.

Shortly after, Saif, an architect who shared Isam’s concerns, joined the initiative, and together they decided to appeal to Jordanians’ patriotism by naming the organisation after the country’s national flower – the Black Iris, an endangered species that blooms in spring.

“The message is simple: you can’t be a nationalist and do nothing to preserve your land,” explains Isam, highlighting the contradiction between Jordanians’ patriotism and their attitudes toward nature, particularly given the country’s vulnerability to climate change.

Activism through art and creativity 

According to several studies, Jordan is one of the highest-risk countries in the world due to global warming.

Water scarcity, poor management, and low precipitation make the country one of the most vulnerable to drought, with large parts of the territory already covered by desert.

As the group prepares jute bags and gloves to meet Umm Mustafa, Isam comments, “People don’t understand that everything is connected.”

Upon arrival, Umm Mustafa presents her delicacies — sun-dried tomatoes, olives, stuffed eggplants Makdous, and Jordan’s popular spicy sauce Shatha — all made from the land beside her guesthouse.

By the end of the day, Green Iris volunteers will clean up around 10 bags of garbage from the surrounding area.

“There’s a mix of factors at play here,” explains Saif while talking to a local from Nahle.

He adds, “Even though they initially blame tourists or the government, people recognise that they generally lack education and suffer from a culture of ‘de-responsibilisation.’”

As visitors gather on the guesthouse’s terrace, trash of all kinds is collected — everything from snack wrappers and burnt lighters to plastic bottles and bags, many of which dissolve in the volunteers’ hands.

“There’s plenty of evidence that microplastics are in our bodies. Here, we’re only scratching the surface,” admits Isam, noting that the bigger issue is Jordan’s consumer-driven lifestyle.

In saying this, Isam notes that although clean-up activities are the most popular among Green Iris’s initiatives — especially when held in well-known areas like Wadi Numeira, the Scandinavian Forest, and Aqaba — the group also adopts other strategies to encourage Jordanians to consume less, reuse, and recycle.

One such strategy is using art and creativity.

For example, the group has made maps of Jordan using shattered glass and maps of Palestine with plastic bottle caps.

They also created the ‘Fairuz painting’, which features paper coffee cups with an image of the iconic Lebanese singer, a favourite in Amman.

Additionally, they recycle coffee bags and leftover fabric from tailors to make tote bags.

Attending fairs and community events over the past two years, the NGO has sold these pieces to raise funds and organised activities such as ‘Build Your Bird Feeder’ and ‘Coca-Cola Alternative Hockey Games’.

Building on their commitment to environmental activism, Green Iris has also taken a firm stance against Israel’s genocide in Palestine.

“We love Palestine because we’re from there too,” they explain, highlighting that over 60% of Jordan’s population has roots on the other side of the Jordan River.

In fact, Green Iris attended solidarity demonstrations, staying until the end to clean up the streets.

They also challenged the growing trend of Palestine-branded garments by encouraging people to bring their own clothes for printing at their booths, rather than buying new fabric.

Changing mindsets

“We can’t do all this alone; the public’s mindset needs to change,” says Saif, adding that social media is the most effective way to engage people.

In line with this approach, Green Iris organised the ‘Clean-up Walk’ from Jabal Amman, where their office is located, to the 8th Circle — a heavily trafficked area in the western part of the city.

The event, which was initiated in collaboration with Diana Sarhan, founder of the D Tour walking startup, aimed to show Ammanis that they could enjoy walking in the city while cleaning up trash along the way.

In a video, Isam and Saif also speak with a street cleaner, one of the approximately 8,000 workers in Amman.

“Street cleaners are often perceived as people who just put our waste — often thrown out of car windows, a common sight in Jordan — into bins. But we rarely consider the bigger picture,” they point out.

“Very little is recycled in Jordan. Landfills are the only way to dispose of trash,” they continue.

They also mention that the lack of infrastructure and political will has been partially filled by informal waste pickers working for companies that export materials abroad.

“There’s been some improvement in recent years,” Isam clarifies, “but it’s not enough. And the regional turmoil of the past 17 months hasn’t helped either.”

In addition to the effects of the war in Gaza, Jordan — hosting over 4 million refugees, primarily from Syria and Palestine — is facing a drastic reduction in international aid.

Since the country heavily depends on foreign aid, particularly from the US, the recent threat by Donald Trump to accept more Palestinians is seen as a critical challenge to Jordan’s survival.

Despite these challenges, Green Iris remains optimistic.

“The case of Cola Matrix — a local brand that gained popularity following an unprecedented boycott campaign against US brands after 7 October 2023 — shows that there is potential for more sustainable models at the governmental, social, and individual levels,” says Isam.

The group’s plan is to become less dependent on donations by establishing a factory to recycle single-use plastics and cigarette butts into construction materials.

“The path ahead of us is not easy, but we have no choice but to at least try.”

Stefano Nanni is a freelance writer with a background in the aid sector. Based in Amman, he has lived in Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan for the past 12 years. He is also the author of a book about the Iraqi poet Latif Al Saadi

Follow him on Instagram: @stef.nanni