facebook
Trips Green Diwali: Go The Sustainable Way With Your Diwali Celebrations This Year
Advertisement

Green Diwali: Go The Sustainable Way With Your Diwali Celebrations This Year

This Diwali, celebrate the victory of good over evil in an eco friendly manner, and ditch all the excess waste the celebrations can bring.

Advertisement

By: Anushka Goel Published: Oct 06, 2022 02:00 PM IST

Green Diwali: Go The Sustainable Way With Your Diwali Celebrations This Year
Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock

Diwali is synonymous with lights. The festivities, which celebrate the spiritual victory of light over darkness and good over evil, include much pomp and show. However, the celebrations can tend to be wasteful. This Diwali, go green with these eco friendly tips. By Anushka Goel

Diwali is probably among the most popular festivals in India. With beautifully lit homes, newly cleaned (and at times, painted) homes, parties and delicious food, Diwali is a festival that is synonymous with family and friends, and spending time with your loved ones.

However, the festivities can end up being a bit wasteful – be it pollution due to crackers, endless piles of clothes discarded during the cleaning or umpteen gifts that are received and given – all add to the clutter and trash that accumulates in the home.

This year, as you celebrate Diwali with your loved ones by spending time at home or going on a trip, take that one extra step to make the festivities greener. Simple ways, such as making a biodegradable rangoli and switching to LED lights and earthen diyas, are effective ways to reduce pollution and make way for a clean, eco friendly Diwali.

Tips to make this Diwali an eco friendly affair

Make a biodegradable rangoli

eco friendly diwali
Image: Courtesy of Suchandra Roy Chowdhury/Unsplash

Beautiful rangolis in different forms decorate the entrance of homes during festivities, and Diwali is no exception. For most households, morning rituals include showering and making a colourful rangoli in the aangan as well as your home’s entrance. However, most of these colours, though beautiful, are harmful for the environment. So this year, turn to colours made using sawdust, flowers, grains and spices from your kitchen and materials such as limestone (chalk) to make your rangoli. These not only look beautiful, but can be swept up and added to your compost bin or buried in gardens and pots, to decompose and turn into nutrition for your plants.

Give a green gift

eco friendly diwali
Image: Courtesy of Hanna Balan/Unsplash

Diwali celebrations are incomplete without gifting, but these can also be made eco friendly. This year, give a green gift – potted plants, organic skincare, sustainably sourced food hampers, bedsheets made with natural material and more – to make your celebrations green and clean. Several such Diwali hampers are available in the market, or you can curate your own by browsing through these sustainable stores online.

Reduce your plastic consumption

Image: Courtesy of cottonbro/Pexels

Plastic makes its way into our homes in many ways, the most common one during Diwali festivities being gift wraps and shopping bags through gift and hampers. When going Diwali shopping, be sure to carry your own bag and refuse single use plastic bags. Try to inform all your friends and family to nor wrap their presents for you, or if they do want to wrap them, ask them to use newspaper or cloth for the same.

Reuse and upcycle your home decor

eco friendly diwali
Image: Shutterstock

Diwali sets the pace for home decor, too. Scented candles, fairy lights, urlis, oil lamps and more are usually bought and decorated around the house to give it a festive feel. However, most of these are then left neglected forever or thrown away, making way for new products next year. This year, dig out all your old decor, repair and reuse the same. Make new placemats and runners at home from old cloth and used dupattas, and remelt all your old pieces of wax into a new (and differently-scented) candle, to be able to give it a new life.

Choose LED lights, oil lamps and diyas to light up your home

Diwali food gift hampers

Diwali celebrations are incomplete without lights, and an eco friendly way to add them to your home is by using oil lamps, ghee-filled diyas, orange-peel lamps and LED lights. Not only are these comparatively more eco friendly, most of these can also be reused (even the diyas, which can be used for the days leading up to Diwali), helping you reduce a lot of waste and saving you money.

Clearing out your almirahs? Donate

eco friendly Diwali
Image: Courtesy of Leighann Blackwood/Unsplash

What spring cleaning is to the Western world, Diwali is to India. So, as you clear out your almirahs this year, be sure to donate whatever you know you will no longer wear. Not only will this give your clothes (most of them almost new, we’re sure) a new life, this will also help the underprivileged and bring smiles to their face. Same goes for unused makeup and skincare, lipsticks and other products that you don’t want to wear and can be sanitised with an alcohol spray (but are not expired), and more.

Shop sustainably and shop your wardrobe

eco friendly Diwali
Image: Courtesy of Alyssa Strohmann/Unsplash

When going Diwali shopping, whether at a pop up exhibition or otherwise, be sure to look for clothes that are sustainable and wearable for longer. Also, look for local labels to boost local economy. If investing in new skincare and makeup is a Diwali ritual for you, make it eco friendly by choosing brands that are vegan, sustainable and natural. Not only will this help you go back to the basics with your skincare, you’ll also be able to give back to the environment.

Another great way to be sustainable is going through your wardrobe to look for clothes you’ve worn a handful of times (or not worn at all), and take them out for this Diwali.

Give handmade gifts

eco friendly diwali
Image: Courtesy of Barbara Chowaniec/Unsplash

Get crafty this year and turn your hobbies into a memorable Diwali gift! Make pickles, jams, snacks, cookies, breads, or cakes – whatever you like – and give those as Diwali gifts. If cooking and baking is not your forte, turn to other skills you might know – making candles, scrapbooks, diaries, macramé, crochet, knitting, weaving and more – and turn that into a Diwali gift your loved ones will cherish for long. If you’re into gardening, specially curated kits made with homemade compost and homegrown saplings, along with instructions to care.

Make festive meals and sweets at home, sustainably

eco friendly Diwali
Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock

Hosting a Diwali party? Cook the meals for the party at home, and try to not create any waste in the process. Peels and bones can be used to make broth for soup, and the remainder of stuff can easily be composted. Shop at organic markets to make your meal a healthier, flavourful one, and buy raw material package-free as much as you can.

Avoid bursting crackers

eco friendly Diwali
Image: Courtesy of Anton Darius/Unsplash

Seems like the most obvious thing, doesn’t it? Some cities in India also have a cracker ban in place, to control pollution. These create a lot of smoke and waste, which can be hard to dispose properly. So this Diwali, go cracker-free. And if that isn’t possible, opt for fireworks packaged in paper, which can be recycled or composted, instead of the usual ones. Oh and, even if bursting crackers, reduce the amount you burn in any case.

Hero and Featured Image: Courtesy of Shutterstock

Related: Best Places To Visit In October In India That Are Perfect For A Diwali Getaway

Written By

Anushka Goel

Anushka Goel

Anushka has previously worked with publications such as the Times of India and Being Indian. A graduate from Xavier Institute of Communications, she specialises in entertainment, food and travel. She also likes to write about sustainability and beauty. When not working, you can catch her reading a book, tending to her plants, cooking or playing an instrument.

     
Never miss an update

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest on travel, stay & dining.

No Thanks
You’re all set

Thank you for your subscription.