Best Eco-friendly Diwali Ideas

Let me wish all my readers a very Happy Diwali 2019. We all know that Diwali the festival of lights, and is loved and celebrated world over with pomp and splendor. It is celebrated by cleaning the house; Making farals and sweets, decorating the home with rangoli and flowers too. Besides this, we enjoy wearing new traditional clothes and sharing gifts with near and dear ones. Diwali is also incomplete without performing the Lakshmi Pooja.

Diwali is the time of the year when you shower your love; spend quality time with family to rejuvenate your close relationships. But do we all celebrate with responsibilities?  Or do we just want to have a good time?  And not care about people from lower strata or the environment? There is a change in celebration style that is causing so many negative effects on the environment.

Each year I plan to celebrate the beautiful festival of Diwali not just with my family members but with people who work for me all year round. Bonus, a pair of new clothes and a box of mithai goes out to all the people who work for my family. It is a ritual my husband and I carry out without fail.

Here are simple ways we can turn your Diwali to be eco-friendly and be a friend to the environment.

Best Eco-friendly Diwali Ideas

1. To save Electricity – I will save Electricity switch to the traditional diya oil lamps. They consume oil and gleam beautifully spreading positive energy all around.  This will help in saving electricity and also add a traditional touch along with social responsibility at the festival. Electric lights are harsh to the eyes, even give out extra heat while consuming more electricity.

2. Give Organic Gift – This Diwali, you can make the change from gifting the usual mithai and dry fruits.  The packaging involves so much plastic material that pollutes the environment. Gift a potted plant and other household useful items like Herbal cosmetics, special teas, and coffee, eco-friendly products, spices etc, this Diwali.  This year, I choose to gift a plant, its the best environment-friendly gift. And dry fruits were given out in earthen pots.

3. Recycle Gift Wrapping Paper –  One can try to use vegetable dye and print on newspaper to make attractive gift paper. I can also use cloth or jute wrapping can be done instead of plastic toxic papers.

4. Use Eco-friendly Crackers – Will opt for Eco-friendly crackers that are made up of recycled paper and the sound produced by these crackers is within defined limits. My idea has always been no crackers at all on Diwali because it creates air and sound pollution which is not good for humans and animals. However we can’t stop kids and children from burning firecrackers, but slowlyexplain to them the ill effects of crackers. We can do something different for attracting and engaging them in fun activities. Like organizing an AI gameshow or kids movie in the society or Streets.

5. Family Celebrations – Instead of individual celebrations I always prefer family celebrations at a commonplace. This will ensure reduced cost of celebration and minimal wastage of resources, as compared to the individual celebration.

6.  Eco-friendly Decorations –  This Diwali,  make an option of fresh flowers and foliage to decorate the house instead of PVC. With simple Rangoli patterns, I decorate my home in a traditional way. Place scented candles around the house to make it bright. The use of organic incense sticks in place of synthetic room fresheners is another method to save the environment.

7.  Donate in a Special Way – It is definitely a Happy Diwali when you will see others happy too. Try donating to the poor in a simple way,  blankets to roadside people or distributing sweets to poor kids.  It feels so good to see sweet smiles on their faces.

8. Community Fridges – On  Diwali, I  always take care that there is no food wastage.  We tend to prepare more than required for parties and there is plenty of leftover food. Instead of disposing it after it rots, I give it to hungry people on the streets during Diwali. Kudos to Red FM noble initiative on installing community fridges, it is now easy to put our food in mouths not bins. They share the remaining food with hungry people to add extra smiles on their faces.  

Celebrations are important, but maintaining a balance is even more important. Say ‘Yes’ to Celebrations but ‘No’ to pollution. Do you have any other Best eco friendly Diwali ideas for 2020, do let me know in the comments below.

You can also read – Freedom from Food Wastage