With the arrival of the holiday season in India, water, air, and noise pollution become the norm. However, with a little effort, it is quite easy to celebrate an eco-friendly Navratri. The grand festivities for Navratri have begun, which is an auspicious event spanning nine nights – this year it will be celebrated from October 7 to October 15.
Celebrated differently across the Indian cultural sphere, Navratri observes grand processions, and huge idols of goddesses along with traditional garba and dandiya dances to celebrate the nine avatars of the divine feminine Devi Durga. On the final day, the idols are immersed in a water body such as a river or the ocean, leaving a big mess behind.
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Celebrating an eco-friendly Navratri can help deal with the problem, but people often misconstrue it to be a boring way to celebrate a festival.
Conversely, celebrating eco-friendly Navratri does not mean you have to give up the things you love about it. In fact, it allows you to celebrate the festivities grandly but without inflicting any sort of harm to the environment and other living beings.
Here is how you can celebrate your Navratri in an eco-friendly way.
Use of Eco-Friendly Idols: Since idols made from Plaster of Paris (PoP) are harmful to the environment, ditch them for clay idols.
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Natural Decorations: Instead of artificial, plastic decorative items, use flowers and other natural materials to decorate your pooja mandaps.
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Eco-Friendly Dolls: As a Navratri tradition in South India, people display a “Golu” or dolls; you can adopt dolls made out of clay and wood instead of PoP.
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Floral Rangolis: Rangoli is a big part of festivities in India; but chemical colours or paints can be harmful; instead you can use natural materials such as flowers.
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Candles and Diyas: You can save a lot of energy by illuminating your space with candles and clay lamps during Navratri.
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Plastic-Free Navratri: Plastic pollution is the biggest threat to the environment. This Navratri, go plastic-free in every way you can.
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Say no to Firecrackers: Firecrackers are a huge source of both noise and air pollution. Celebrate an eco-friendly Navratri this year by saying no to firecrackers and using ecologically safe alternatives.
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Clean-Up Campaigns: Once the festivities are done, even eco-friendly Navratri can leave a lot of waste around. Encourage people, organizations, and social workers to participate in a clean-up campaign.
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Recycle Floral Waste: There is plenty of floral waste as flowers play a major role in traditional festivities in India. Do not throw away the floral waste, instead, recycle it.
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