Festivities and fun, but nurture environment too!
This moment of the year marks festivities and celebration. Past few days were being celebrated as Ganesh Utsav to worship Lord Ganesha and in the upcoming weeks there will be Durga Pooja celebration. This time after 3years (a lag due to pandemic), the festival was celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm everywhere, and such will be the scenario for Durga Pooja as well. The sculptors make wonderful idols (murtis) of Lord Ganesha and Maa Durga, which are immersed into water on the last day of utsav (usually 10th day).
And here comes the other side of the story. No doubt, we enjoy to the fullest having the best times of our life. But have you ever wondered what happens to water bodies or aquatic life forms wherein we perform immersion ritual? They are burdened with pollutants! Must be wondering why burdened since now eco-friendly idols are available in the market. But have you ever noticed; how eco-friendly it is in real! Despite so many initiatives taken by the authorities, this time also it was disheartening to see pictures of water bodies having the idol remains as it is even after 4–5days of immersion. They were not dissolved in the water after such a long duration, leading to environmental pollution. Apart from idols, accessories are also dumped as it is further adding up to the toxic level.
There are two main factors contributing them as environment pollutants/toxicants:
- Plaster of Paris (PoP) which is used in the making of idols
- The colors that make them vibrant
Though there are contradictory reports about the effects of PoPs on environment, but it is non-biodegradable which keeps the idols as it is in the still water, also affecting the quality of water and hence aquatic life form. As an alternative to the toxic PoP, true eco-friendly idols are now made up of soil, mud, clay or even chocolate, rice flour. Such eco-friendly idols overcome the problem of degradation and are dissolved easily in the water in shorter duration (for instance clay idols takes around 45mins to dissolve) and they are not harmful to the water bodies! So, it is the prime responsibility of sculptors to use only eco-friendly material and not PoPs for idols that must be immersed into water. Also, it is our duty as responsible citizens to make sure what we are purchasing is not made up of PoPs and is truly eco-friendly. To differentiate between the two, PoP idols are lighter in weight as compared to others.
The other major concern is the use of colors. No doubt, the bright and vibrant colors gives the attractive appearance to these wonderfully sculpted idols. But the artificial colors, paints or dyes that are used are highly toxic to the environment as they contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic which are dissolved in the water and eventually enters the food chain via aquatic life forms, ultimately reaching the agricultural stock. Thus, it contributes to eco-toxicity as well as health toxicity. That is why many dead fishes can be seen floating in the water bodies like lakes and rivers after few days of immersion. The reason for this toxicity is the poisonous effect of even a small amount of heavy metals that enters into the water. And immersion of such a large number of idols on a single day increases the toxic effect ultimately killing the aquatic life forms. Though, now-a-days artificial ponds are set up everywhere to prevent pollution of lakes and rivers, even then also disposal of such polluted water is a tidious task, as it would require treatment of that contaminated water before disposal. Thus, as an alternative either we can go for the natural look of beautifully sculpted idols without using any colors and paints or we can opt for the natural colors.
What are these natural colors and where we can get them from? The natural colors are basically pigments obtained from natural sources like plants, fruits, vegetables etc using physical or chemical extraction methods. For instance, common household turmeric is a source of yellow color derived from curcumin pigment; likewise beetroot is a source of berry red color derived from betanin pigment; so on and so forth there are several such natural sources. They are very much safe for health as well as environment as they are easily biodegradable and doesn’t cause pollution. Though, artificial colors or dyes are preferred as even one stroke gives such brightness and shine, saving preparation time and cost, BUT polluting our environment. On the other hand, painting with natural colors requires atleast 2–3strokes and has other challenges like color change due to drying condition, for which a lot of research is ongoing so as to make an efficient use of such natural colors.
Not to forget, as we enjoy the festival time with high spirit and energy, it should not become a burden for other life forms and the Environment. Thus, save the environment so that we can continue celebrating these festivals in the near future as well!
“Being a responsible citizen, accomplish something for our Environment and future.”
