Diwali is the one festival in India which is celebrated by all irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Diwali is celebrated to acknowledge the victory of good over evil. And the lighting of earthen lamps or diyas on a moonless night signifies a new beginning of enlightenment and the end of darkness of ignorance.

Earlier Diwali celebration meant house cleaning and decoration, performing traditional Lakshmi pooja, lightening of diyas in the evening and family get-together. But with the changing time the style of celebrating Diwali has also changed drastically. Now Diwali celebrations mean electric illumination and bursting noisy fire crackers. This change in the celebration style has imposed many negative effects on the environment; some of the effects are listed below:

• Excessive air pollution
• Excessive noise pollution
• Soil pollution
• Excessive power consumption
• Consumerism (excess consumption means excess use of raw material)

Besides these environmental effects the modern style of celebrating Diwali also leads to various health hazards. Some of the major health hazards are listed below:

• Hearing loss
• High blood pressure
• Sleeping disturbances
• Asthma
• Headache
• Irritability
• Skin allergies
• Fatigue
• Eye related problems
• Respiratory problems

How to Celebrate Eco-Friendly Deepawali?
Listing the various environmental and health hazards caused due to present form of Diwali celebration doesn’t means to stop celebrating the festival. But definitely the way of celebrating this auspicious festival can be changed. Listed below are few environment friendly tips to celebrate Diwali 2008:

• Instead of individual celebration prefer community celebration. With the increasing trend of gated community all the families of the community can celebrate Diwali in the common space. This will ensure reduced cost of celebration; paper pollution in a limited space and as compared to individual celebration, community celebration will cause less air and noise pollution.
• Even while celebrating commonly make sure that you limit your celebration for a limited period of time. Your celebration can last for maximum 3 to 4 hours.
• Before selecting the place for common community celebration make sure that it is far away from hospitals. Instead of selecting crowded areas it is better to opt a open ground.
• Instead of selecting traditional chemical cracker this Diwali go for eco-friendly crackers. Eco-friendly crackers are made up of recycled paper and the sound produced by these crackers is under the decibel limit defined by the Pollution Board. These crackers produce paper fluffers and different color lights instead of sound on bursting.
• Instead of electric illumination go for traditional lightening of earthen lamps or diyas. This will not only enhance the beauty of your house but will also cut down the enormous electric consumption. Though earthen lamps need oil but the quantity is less and it gives light for at least 3-4 hours.
• Cut down your shopping list and avoid purchasing unwanted and unnecessary things this Diwali. Excess consumerism is directly related to the consumption of raw material used to manufacture those things. Excessive consumerism increases the undue pressure on the natural resources.
• Instead of buying “one-time use” items go for recyclable things. Secondly while cleaning your home for Deepawali instead of disposing things it is better to give it to under-privilege people.
• Celebrate Diwali 2008 with a different meaning. You can celebrate this Diwali with poor and under-privilege children. Share your Diwali crackers, sweets and happiness with poor children.

These were some of the environment friendly tips for celebrating Diwali 2008. In case you have some more ideas and tips of celebrating eco-friendly Diwali then please use our comment section to share it with us.