The celebration of the festival of lights with the traditional abandon, accompanied with gifts, sweets and firecrackers around the corner. The festival spirit that originated during the dussera has permeated into the wind that is getting chiller, as the inviting malls get glitzier, the thick-ness of the city-edition pages tom-toming all the deals around the stores gets thicker. And we ready to welcome joy and prosperity for ourselves, friends and relatives and finalize the plans to buy our coveted possessions during Dhanteras. I often get nostalgic, conjure up child hood days of "Diwali sans any worries" vividly when we awaited for the innocent evenings filled with diyas, candles, fire crackers, sweets and of-course the new clothes.
If we can get a bit more careful on how and what we buy for the celebration, we can also wish a little more joy and prosperity for the earth that we inhabit. And do'nt get me wrong, it is not a blog post on how we should cut down on our consumption. Each of the articles we usually buy has an alternative greener and more eco-friendly option and they may be available in a store near you. A few pointers below:
Fire Crackers - Crackers contain a lethal cocktail of copper, potassium nitrate, carbon, lead, cadmium, zinc and sulphur, which emit noxious gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide causing immense air pollution and creating several health hazards. Eco-friendly crackers are made up of recycled paper that produce light in multi-hues but are low in sulphur content with noise produced being under the decibel limit defined by the Pollution Board. Many of them are also bio-degradable and when lit up they illuminate and then blossom out into colourful paper fluffers. In Lucknow, you can buy them from Mr. Gulsher Azad in Lucknow Azad Fireworks Address: 49-B, Azad Lane , Water Works Road, Bhadewan, Bazar Khala, Lucknow and reach him through 9839051501. The other two numbers 9839051502/3 do not seem to work.
Also remember, crackers are often produced by child labors which devoids them of their right to education. There are some manufacturers which declare their crackers to be child labor free. Make an effort to buy such crackers.
Diya: If you are in the US, you can buy eco-friendly diwali diyas here . If you are in or around Florida you may be interested in the following link: http://www.ruralhandicrafts.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=23 . If in india, vendors in almost all neighbourhood make-shift stalls are selling earthen diyas for prices as low as for Rs two to three. Try buying the earthen ones instead of the ones that use synthetic colour and non-biodegradable components. They take lot of time to degrade. There are several artisitc versions available of earthen diyas and with a little scouting around you can find several classier versions.
Eco-friendly Gifts and Candles: We can not imagine Diwali without exchange of gifts. You can choose your diwali gift plans from several eco-friendly concepts listed here . I have summarized a few of them below:
Antiques are great gift items which promote the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle. Quirio Antique Shopis pretty well-known in Bangalore.
You can plan to gift plants which is a clear post-modern fashion statement. Nurturing Green will have a store near you and help you deliver your plant gift in the delivery location. You can connect with them by calling Annu or Mayank (9953244630/9711208934). You may find there store in a near-by mall in your city. Call them and check out.
Haathi Chaap has brought out a range products with pronounced organic funk. It is a whole new material from which paper is being made after a lot of research and experimentation. You can check out their funky products here. They sell their products around the country. You can check them here . In bangalore they are available at the Kormangala mother earth store. In Mumbai, check them out at Tappu ki Dukan. Tappu ki Dukan also stocks the Clean Planet bags. You can also check out http://www.conserveindia.org/ which offers a range of products made of "upcycled" plastic. By buying a Conserve bag, belt, wallet, shoe, or necklace, you not only get to be a trend setter with a beautiful, funky piece of high fashion - you will also be helping some of India's poorest people and its environment.
Diwali has quintessentially been a celebration of good's triump over evil. It is onto us to plan out the ghosts we want to get rid of this diwali. In many of the Indian states, diwali marks the first day of the year. Coincidentally, Green is also the color of wealth. There may not be a better day to be inspired by eco-frindly funk. The joy you spread will certainly be a few degrees higher.
You can click here to PLEDGE that you will make an effort to reduce your footprint this Diwali.
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Saturday, 30 October 2010
