Celebrating Ganeshotsav – the Eco-way!!

To preserve nature is everyone’s responsibility. BramhaCorp, a responsible brand that extends its support to every noble cause that secures the beauty of Mother Earth would like to bring forth the reasons to celebrate this festive season in an eco-friendly way.

Lord Ganesha – God of power and wisdom is worshipped all over India before initiating any work. Ganesh Chaturthi is the birthday of Lord Ganesha. It comes in the month of ‘Bhadrapad’ (August-September). Starting from Ganesh Chaturthi, people keep idols of Ganesha in their homes, offices and localities for 10 days accompanied with prayers, decorations and celebrations. On the 11th day, the Anant Chaturdashi, the statue of Ganesha is immersed in a water body, bidding him adieu and praying for his early arrival on Earth next year.

Though the celebrations are done with a lot of joy and happiness but after the festival especially after the immersion of the idols; the water bodies (seas, rivers and lakes) are often left polluted and dirty, harming water creatures and over and above ‘Mother Earth’.

Let’s take a look at the Environmental Hazards caused:

• Severe threats are caused to our environment with the use of Plaster of Paris for making Ganesha idols and the chemical paints used for decorative the idols.
• While immersing idols, people unknowingly dump non biodegradable wastes such as plastic flowers, cloth, fresh flowers, garlands, camphor, thermocol etc. that causes water pollution.
• This water pollution results in increased toxicity in water thus resulting in destruction of marine life and skin diseases and other problems for humans.

These issues calls for a responsible behavior by each citizen in adopting suitable measures to protect our water resources and environment by celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in a green and an eco-friendly way.

Following are some of the ways in which we can keep the festival eco-friendly.

1. Use of natural clay Ganesha idols over Plaster of Paris: Natural clay Ganesha idols dissolve easily in water and the water can be used for plants.
2. Use natural colors for painting/decorating the idols: Use turmeric, multani mitti, sandalwood and other natural colors to paint the idols rather than chemical paints.
3. Use traditional earthen lamps: Save energy and electricity by using earthen lamps to light up homes and temples instead of artificial lights.
4. Use natural colors for making Rangolis: For rangoli decorations, use natural and biodegradable colors like rice powder, gulal, sandalwood powder, flowers, henna, turmeric etc. and avoid using chemical base colors.
5. Use fresh flowers for decoration: Avoid using artificial decorative materials and use fresh flowers instead.
6. Avoid Plastics: Plastics are a huge environmental hazard since it does not dissolve in water and keeps on accumulating in water bodies causing stagnation and obstruction to water flow.
7. Limit use of loudspeakers and firecrackers: Use of loudspeakers and firecrackers should be avoided and limited to just a couple of hours time frame so as to avoid noise pollution which may create problem in hospitals, old age homes and educational institutes.

Best Practices for a Green and Eco-friendly Ganeshotsav:

1. Artificial immersion tank: Use artificial immersion tanks instead of natural water bodies whose water is used for irrigation and drinking.
2. Awareness on Green Ganesh festival: Spread awareness (workshops, sharing videos, posters, messages) among people and encourage them to celebrate Ganesh festival in its true sense.
3. Create Compost Pit: After the celebrations, collect all the biodegradable wastes such as flowers, garlands, paper and banana leaves etc. and put them in a compost pit. This can be used as a fertilizer for plants and trees.
4. Symbolic immersion: There are many families that use a metal or a stone Ganesha idol and immerse it at home/sea, hold it under the water and then bring it back for the next year. Another way of immersing could be sprinkling a few drops of water on the idol and then wiping it and keeping it for next year.

BramhaCorp urges people to celebrate and enjoy this auspicious festival in an Eco-friendly manner without causing damage to the God’s creation - Mother Earth.