Ancient Traditions Go Eco

The Ganesh Festival in India is 10 days of dedicated celebration of the Elephant God. People bring home elephant-shaped Ganpati idols made of different materials, especially Plaster of Paris, and when the festival is over, they submerge these idols in natural bodies of water. Since most of the idols are not bio-degradable, they cause a lot of harm to the water bodies.

The Eco Innovation

Since we moved to Pune, we’ve installed a permanent Ganpati idol at home, and every year we make a small idol that we pray to and submerge in a bucket outside the door. Being environmentally conscious, our Ganpati idols have always been ‘green’ and made of clay and wheat flour. This year, we consciously decided to use old newspapers and make a recycled Ganpati.

The only thing used in this Ganpati idol, apart from the newspapers and a little bit of water, is glue to append the various parts. This Ganpati is made with all the main elements the God has - trunk, ears, hands (one blessing and the other holding the sweet), the crown, the sweet (modak), the snake, the sacred threads, a seat and also the mouse (the God’s vehicle).

We have made a small army of Ganpatis using the same of process of recycling newspapers, and have given them out as gifts to people visiting our home and office. This is to promote the idea of recycling with a simple idea for a major festival.