Eco Friendly Diwali

 

Diwali

I love celebrating Diwali, we have lovely food, light up Diya’s 🪔 get presents! What’s not to like?! We also love the fireworks, until I started reading up how this isn’t very good for the environment! Which means for The Dulay’s we need to look at alternative options! 

What is Diwali? Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. 

Diwali is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness. The festival is in either October or November, with the date changing every year.

What's The Festival About? 

Each religion celebrates different historical events and stories.

Hindus celebrate the return of deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. They also celebrate the day Mother Goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha. 

Sikhs celebrate the release from prison of the sixth guru Hargobind Singh in 1619. The foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the most holy place for Sikh's, was laid on Diwali in 1577. 

The founder of Jainism is Lord Mahavira. During Diwali, Jains celebrate the moment he reached a state called Moksha (nirvana, or eternal bliss).

Traditions

Families use lights and oil lamps which are lit on the streets and in houses. People visit their relatives, have feasts, exchange gifts and light fireworks. Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, is worshipped as the bringer of blessings for the new year

Celebrate An Eco-Friendly Diwali

1. Save electricity consumption:

Use the traditional method of candles and diya's. Decorate your houses with flowers, or even LED lamps / lights and rangolis.

2. Use fewer fireworks or none: 

Using fireworks you need to think about the air and noise pollution caused by them. One way to resolve this problem is celebrating Diwali together as a community that way, less fireworks are used or even deciding to use none, which would be great.

3. Reduce plastic use: 

Presents are exchanged for Diwali. So if you go shopping do not use plastic shopping bags and use bags for life or even cloth bags.

4.Gifts:

Why not give a gift this year that will benefit the environment, for example a pollinator plant or seeds? Or donate to a wonderful charity that supports conservation. We will be donating to The Wildlife Trust this year as a family instead of exchanging gifts The Wildlife Trusts | The Wildlife Trusts 

5. Organic Rangoli Colours:

Make rangolis that can be made using flowers, or use eco-friendly colours that do not cause harm to our surroundings. 

I wish all my readers a Happy Diwali