An ecosensitive Diwali - Say No to Crackers
The Safe Festivals campaign led by the Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group has been running an education campaign for the past few years on the toxic impacts caused by firecrackers. In partnership with NGOs such as the Center for Environment Education, Pune and Toxics Link, Delhi, the campaign has created posters and slides on the subject and has been reaching out to educational institutions to spread the message. Inspired by the No to Crackers campaign which was fairly successful in Delhi and which encouraged children to stop using firecrackers during Diwali, Kalpavriksh has been working towards increasing the level of awareness about this issue in Pune as well.
As part of our campaign we are helping to spread a fact sheet put together by Toxics Link, Delhi on the toxic impacts of firecrackers. Please see the report attached here.
Besides the pollution caused by firecrackers, most of these that are produced in India rely heavily on child labour.
To be able to replace the firecrackers the Safe Festival campaign hopes to offer an eco sensitive alternative in the coming years. The idea would be to invent an alternative that could provide the beauty of the light displays offerred by firecrackers without using toxic chemical contents, and to reduce completely the noise element.
In the meantime, the campaign would also like to promote the idea of a community celebration. In countries such as Switzerland, where the use of firecrackers by individuals is heavily regulated to avoid the dangers of fires, the city administration organises community displays. This limits the quantity of crackers used during the event and also provides a display to people who cannot afford to buy their own. Displays such as these are done in public areas, where people can gather and celebrate the event together.
As part of our campaign we are helping to spread a fact sheet put together by Toxics Link, Delhi on the toxic impacts of firecrackers. Please see the report attached here.
Besides the pollution caused by firecrackers, most of these that are produced in India rely heavily on child labour.
To be able to replace the firecrackers the Safe Festival campaign hopes to offer an eco sensitive alternative in the coming years. The idea would be to invent an alternative that could provide the beauty of the light displays offerred by firecrackers without using toxic chemical contents, and to reduce completely the noise element.
In the meantime, the campaign would also like to promote the idea of a community celebration. In countries such as Switzerland, where the use of firecrackers by individuals is heavily regulated to avoid the dangers of fires, the city administration organises community displays. This limits the quantity of crackers used during the event and also provides a display to people who cannot afford to buy their own. Displays such as these are done in public areas, where people can gather and celebrate the event together.
