Diwali 2014: How to celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali

October 23, 2014 is Diwali. Diwali is just around the corner and your preparations must be in full swing. By now you might have cleaned your house, decided on gifts, thought of the number of deli

By: Debjani Arora | | Updated: October 20, 2014 4:52 pm

दीपक की लौ को एकटक निहारने की प्रक्रिया को त्राटक कहते हैं। यह प्रक्रिया आंखों की क्षमता बढ़ाने के साथ-साथ एकाग्रता में भी वृद्धि‍ करती है।

October 23, 2014 is Diwali.

Diwali is just around the corner and your preparations must be in full swing. By now you might have cleaned your house, decided on gifts, thought of the number of delicacies to serve the guests and probably shopped to the fullest. But did you ever give it a thought how these celebrations harm the environment and nature around? Sure it’s your innocence and ignorance that keeps you from thinking about the environment amidst the joys, but a little awareness can make a big difference. Here is what happens to your surroundings when you celebrate Diwali with absolute ignorance and unawareness.

It leads to air pollution: For many, bursting crackers is a way to express joy and happiness, but it is a sure way of polluting the air and restricting others from breathing some fresh air too.

It leads to noise pollution: Noise pollution and air pollution due to bursting of crackers go hand-in-hand.

It dirties the surroundings: If only you take a look at the ground the morning after bursting crackers and before the community cleaning is done (if at all it is done) you would know what we are talking about.

It leads to excessive power consumption: What else can you expect after lighting all those lights and decorating your home with the same.

However, there is a lot that you can do to celebrate Diwali in an eco-friendly manner. This act will ensure that the future is both bright and green during Diwali and other celebrations that would follow. Here are a few steps to do the same.

Start with charity: When you start the annual clean-up of your house make sure that you do not throw away all that you think isn’t a necessity anymore. Instead, make two bags, one for things that can be recycled and other that needs to be disposed. The bag in which you keep things for recycling, dump your unused clothes, toys books and stationery. Go to an NGO to donate it or distribute them among underprivileged kids.What better way to start Diwali preparations than giving gifts to others. For the other bag with the disposable items make sure you dispose them right away and in an eco-friendly manner. For instance, for electronic items dismantle them, remove the silicon batteries and then send them to recycle bins or the nearby electronic repair store.

Opt for earthen lamps for decoration: In an aesthetic sense decorating your house with electric, colourful lights enhances its look, but definitely it calls for more power consumption. Lighting earthen diyas instead will cut down on consumption of electricity and give your house an ethnic look for the occasion. The only flip-side would be that the earthen lamps might need more oil, but if you compare the costs, it is still less to paying extra on electricity.

Buy eco-friendly crackers: The best way to celebrate Diwali is to go noise-free. But it could get difficult to explain the same to your kid. So opt for eco-friendly crackers, these are made up of recycled papers that make less noise as compared to the regular ones. Because of the way these crackers are made, they add less pollution to the environment.

Make your own cards and gift wraps: Use accessories like bindis, ribbons, pieces of cloth, papers, etc. to make cards and gift wraps. When you buy gifts for your relatives don’t try to wrap them with the conventional gift wraps. Instead, make your own wraps with newspaper and paint.

Engage in more community activities: Make it a point to burst crackers together in your community and choose an area to do the same. Before you start, fix a time, like say just two hours for the entire activity. Ask everyone to gather in the park, playground or an open area and burst eco-friendly crackers together. This will reduce both noise and air pollution to a great extent.

Use organic and eco-friendly accessories: This Diwali to make your house smell well give the room freshener a miss and opt for the organic incense stick and fresh flowers. While buying other accessories, give plastic a miss and opt for paper or handmade kandils. Did you know you could have eco-friendly colours for rangoli too? Well if you want to make it more special and natural, give those artificial colours a miss and turn to your kitchen. You can make a natural and more eco-friendly rangoli with items like rice powder, pulses, legumes and other spices.

Make healthy Diwali sweets: Of course there are a lot of options of sweets and farsans to opt for during the Diwali. But it is fun to gorge on home-made sweets. The best Diwali sweets that you can make at home are besan and rava ladoos, mysore pak, gajar ka halwa, shakkarpare, kheer are a few to choose from.

Entertain guests in an eco-friendly manner: Instead of serving food in expensive crockery opt for banana leaf and small earthen glass to serve the guests. This gesture will make it more special and be eco-friendly too.

Image courtesy: Getty Images

Published : October 20, 2014 4:51 pm | Updated:October 20, 2014 4:52 pm

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