Celebrating an Eco-friendly Navratri
Navratri is a festival to celebrate the feminine energy with nine nights of sanctity, prayers, fasting & celebrations. The theme of celebrating an eco-friendly navratri is not new. As Mother nature is also feminine energy so both Navratri & Eco-friendly are intertwined.
The deity worshipped is Goddess Durga, who is believed to be descending on earth in this auspicious period of time and be among her beloved devotees.
Magnificent idols of goddess Durga are placed in large well lit and decorated pandals. Goddess is worshipped for nine days with faith & devotion.
On the tenth day as a farewell ritual these worshipped idols are immersed into water bodies all over the country. These idols are made with Plaster of Paris (POP) & chemical colours. When immersed, POP & chemical colours from the idols pollute the the water bodies and degrades the environment.
Celebrating an eco-friendly navrati some tips:
1. Use of Eco friendly Idols:
Before the advent of chemical based paints & colours & POP the idols were being made with clay.
Clay idols are the best when it comes to decomposing in water as clay is not toxic & sediments.
2. Celebrating an Eco-friendly Navratri with Rangoli:
Rangoli made with flower petals grains, pulses, turmeric, kumkum etc. These are all naturally available & non-toxic. if you want to buy colours for the rangoli do check if they are synthetic or natural (made from plant extracts).
3. Using Biodegradable tableware:
Made from sugarcane pulp and rice husk biodegradable tableware are an eco-friendly choice & are compostable. This reduces the accumulation of plastic waste generated from use and throw tableware made of plastic.
4. Hand Rolled Incense sticks:
Incense sticks made of added chemical fragrances are dangerous. The smoke coming from burning of chemical fragrance compounds is a health-hazard can be bad for lungs. Using a hand rolled incense stick is safe as there are no hazardous chemical ingredients or byproducts.
Celebrating a festival in right spirit without harming the environment is a goal to be fulfilled. With our conscious efforts, together we can make a better world.
