We’re back this week with the inspiring Elham AlQasim, the first Arab woman to ski to the North Pole in 2010.
Elham is an Emirati business woman, adventurer, entrepreneur and mother of three who became the first Arab woman to ski to the North Pole in April 2010.
Her background includes Abu Dhabi Investment Fund, Mubadala Investment Company, JPMorgan Investment Bank, and Emirates Global Aluminum to name a few, and she is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Digital14.
Back in 2015, as she was looking for her next venture, Elham launched the Natural Laundry Company to correct the perceptions people have about dry cleaning and to help both customers and employees live a toxin-free life. Elham is since then on a mission to drive sustainability and provide UAE residents with a safer alternative to laundry services.
TNLC was born with an aim to offer UAE residents and businesses a natural biodegradable alternative to traditional toxic dry-cleaning.
Dry-cleaning is a process that soaks garments in petroleum solvents which have been linked to long-term illnesses. The Natural Laundry company uses a process called wet-cleaning, an innovative technology that is revolutionising daily lives. The technique uses cold water and biodegradable solvents, replacing chemicals such as perchloroethylene which is found in traditional laundry services and has been proven to cause long-term illnesses such as kidney and liver disease, as well as cancer.
“Many of the services or products we use daily are toxic or damaging to humans and the environment. As the mother of a child with a number of sensitivities, I am constantly looking for safer alternatives to anything he is exposed to and in the absence of options locally, I decided to create one”.