15 Fantastic Green Diwali Ideas

This Diwali let's go green and give the environment the celebration it deserves!

Diwali is the festival of lights, a time for celebrating and shopping with your loved ones. How can we have a celebration respecting Nature?

1. CELEBRATE A DIWALI WITH "GREEN CRACKERS" OR GO THE WHOLE HOG AND GO "CRACKERLESS"!

Celebrating with fireworks and crackers is fun. However, it causes pollution - both air pollution and noise pollution, worsening our already deteriorating air quality that affects the health of people, especially children.

2. USE EARTHEN LAMPS & DIYAS

Let's use earthen lamps and diyas instead of plastic lights and lamps. Switch to candles and earthen lamps that do not lead to a pile up of plastic. Support our potter community, and encourage the ancient arts of India by going green!

3. Gift organic and natural products

Gift your dear ones organic and natural products that don't contain those harmful, synthetic chemicals that hurt the environment and our bodies.

Many natural, organic and homemade products are available these days. These products range from bath & beauty to food to snacks to clothes. Products that are free of harmful synthetic chemicals, food additives and synthetic preservatives.

Homemade wonders, or handcrafted bath and beauty products are great ideas for gifting. Or you could treat your loved ones to a gift basket with assorted natural and organic products!

4. Out shopping for gifts? Shop with reusable cloth or jute 

 Say No to plastic!

Plastic bags take hundreds of years to degenerate, and when they do, they poison the soil and enter the food chain, disrupting the environment in a serious way.

So, let's use bags that are made from natural materials.

5. Environmentally friendly Diwali decorations.

Decorate your home with paper decorations and lanterns. Substitute  plastic idols and lamps for biodegradable ones. 

6. Serving meals to guests? Use reusable plates, glasses and cutlery, or even biodegradable ones.

 Diwali is a time to get together and to host meals for the extended family. Try to use reusable plates, glasses and cutlery, or ones made of banana leaf and palm leaf. Let's use biodegradable plates and cups instead of plastic and thermocol ones that cause a huge amount of wastage, and cause damage to the environment as well.

Go one step further and use plates made from bagasse, a material from sugarcane that decomposes over time and doesn't have a negative impact on the environment.

7. Gift a Plant This Diwali

Gift your loved ones lovely potted plants! Lets take an oath to make our Earth greener this festive season. Indoor plants would add a touch of greenery to the room and make it cozier. A variety of air purification plant would make the air cleaner as well.

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8. Let's Turn Down the Volume.

Noise pollution in Indian cities is augmented by blaring music that many a time disturb young children, elders and pets. Let's reduce the volume of the music we play, thereby  not adding to noise pollution.

9. Eco friendly packaging

10. Make Beautiful Floral Rangolis or ones with Natural Colours

 Choose synthetic chemicals free natural colours over synthetic colours for your rangoli.

When making that gorgeous rangoli, add coloured edibles from your kitchen such as turmeric, sindoor curry leaf powder or beetroot powder to powdered rice or dry flour or to even sand.

Or try a beautiful floral rangoli!

11. Support local and Eco friendly enterprises

This festive season, buy products that are produced locally. Support small scale manufacturing groups and homemakers. Explore shops that sell natural, organic and eco friendly things. Buy from self help groups and support their families, causes and needs.

12. Reuse and Recycle!

Don't throw away your Diwali decorations. Keep them well wrapped in paper and use it next year. The habit of reusing and recycling needs to be cultivated in children too. This not only helps the environment, but is economical as well.

13. Segregate the trash you generate during the festivities.

Let's dispose of the waste we generate, responsibly. Let's segregate the wet and dry waste, and if convenient, use the wet waste to make compost!

14. Donations and  charity this Festive Season

Let's donate our unused and gently used things that we rarely use.  Let's visit the underprivileged people in our locality and spread the festive cheer and happiness.

15. Make Diwali Sweets at Home

Celebrate Diwali with homemade sweets, laddoos and mithai. Avoid sweets and snacks that are adulterated or made with artificial and synthetic food additives such as synthetic colours, flavours or preservatives. Let your loved ones and kids  enjoy pure, homemade sweets and snacks!