Shun plaster of Paris and chemical paints, and use clay and natural colours instead to make environment-friendly idols.
At a time when mandals are trying to outdo each other with huge Ganesha idols, mostly made of plaster of Paris and coated with chemical colours, school and college students are making an effort to popularise eco-friendly Ganeshas.
Students from several schools in the city have created clay Ganeshas in their schools in order to create awareness for a green and eco-friendly Ganesha festival. “We will take these idols home and install them. One of the idols we made will also be installed in our school,” said Praful Jain, a Standard VIII student at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (OLPS), Chembur. Jain has made an idol using clay which dissolves in water.
The students collected the clay used to make the idols. Instead of using artificial colours, they also created their own colours using vegetable dye.
Similarly, students from Activity High School, Peddar Road made an educational short film that teaches students how to make such idols in simple and easy steps. This film was showcased across schools in the city by Children’s Movement of Civic Awareness (CMCA), to encourage students to create eco friendly idols. The organisation also conducted workshops on making Ganeshas using clay as well as used boxes with 2D/ 3D paper-sculpting techniques.
Even college students are leaving no stone unturned to celebrate eco-friendly Ganesha. Students from Hinduja College have created an idol made of paper for Ganesha celebrations.
Akshay Pawar, an ex-student of the college, who is handling the Ganesha celebration said: “It is the second year of our college’s eco-friendly Ganesh celebration. We make the idol using raddi papers. The only cost we incur is for the gum and colours used to paint these Ganesha idols.” Students of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), who pioneered the eco-friendly Ganesh celebration in the education circle, have gone beyond just celebration. IIT-B has been organising workshops for making eco-friendly Ganesha for some years now. According Vikas Sharma, secretary of photography and fine arts, the workshop the workshop is mostly targeted at first year students, who have just entered IIT-B. “In the first year itself, we make them aware of the importance of eco-friendly Ganesha idols and also give training on how to make the idols,” he said.
Sharma added: “ The hostel celebrates Ganesha in an environment friendly way and students participation in this workshop helps them earn 5 point of extra-curricular participation.”
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