Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in an Eco-friendly Way
‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ — the most awaited celebration is here already. 25th August is the day when Lord Ganesha leaves for his home from Mount Kailash. He is here for 10 consecutive days to bring home lots of happiness. In fact, for the coming 10 days, people will witness huge statutes of Lord Ganesha and beautiful pandals widely. With his home coming, all good things are expected to arrive with pomp and fervour.

So, let’s come together and celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in a different way. Let us have a good time this year in an Eco-friendly way.
To start with, say NO to deities made of plaster of Paris, chemicals, polystyrene, plastics and OPT for deities made of bio-degradable and natural materials.
It is recommended to take smaller size idols than bigger size, as the bigger ones take much more clay and take much space, thereby adding more waste to the environment.
During the ‘’pooja’’ or ‘‘aarti’’, switch on the decorative lights when required. Bring in compact fluorescent lights and replace all the traditional bulbs for the decoration.
Try and make use of the natural biodegradable and green colours for making Rangoli. By eco-friendly colours, we mean henna, turmeric, gulaal and rice powder.
Use natural flowers or handmade flowers for decoration. In order to decorate around Ganpati Bappa, use natural materials like paper, wood and cloth to make puppets, bells, dolls and other necessary accessories.
To celebrate a pollution-free Ganesh Chaturthi, say NO to all forms of plastic bags. As an alternative, jute bags will be highly encouraged. Get customized jute bags and enjoy a comfortable and eco-friendly puja. The idea is to encourage you to use biodegradable products like jute bags so that you can save this planet from getting polluted.
Playing loud music must be avoided as it creates a disturbance to the environment. Instead, Tabla, Mridangam and other low sound musical instruments can be used.
After the puja gets over, collect the offerings of garlands, flowers and other organic materials to put them into a community-built compost pit. All these can be best used to fertilize the gardens.
Last but not the least, instead of immersing Lord Ganesha in any water body, it would be great to sprinkle a few drops of sacred water and then wipe it off and keep it for the next year. Using a stone or metal idol will be a good choice because it can be easily immersed in a bucket of water. No wonder, it would be a symbolic immersion and one of the best ways to protect the Mother Nature.
When reducing things is the best means to manage waste, try reusing the products in diverse ways. So, recycle the festival flowers and leftovers to manage waste.
Hope, the above-mentioned points were helpful enough for you to spread awareness and make this world a better place to live in. Let’s pledge together for a Green world and start using biodegradable products like jute bags and make Ganesh Chaturthi a memorable one this year.
Ganpati Bappa Morya Mangal Murti Morya
