Celebrate clean Diwali by using waste materials

Reinvent, recycle and refurbish things for Diwali instead of going to shop for home decor for the festive season, suggest experts who feel people must think about long-term impact on surroundings and the environment.

Ashish Gupta, Founder, Inliving and Serenia co-working spaces, said:

* This Diwali, let us the emulate traditional principle of sustainability and bring back the concept of reinvent, recycle and refurbish. This system has been usurped by mindless consumerism, whereby we reach out convenient options and forget the long-term impact on surroundings and environment. There is no need to go shopping for the home decor during Diwali. There are several do-it-yourself ideas and you will be surprised that your house is full of interesting stuff.

* Some of the ideas are using earthen lamps as they do not leave carbon footprint behind and for a brighter look and appeal, you can paint them with eco-friendly colours.

* These can be used beautifully on side boards, corners or balconies. At dinner parties, avoid non-biodegradable and disposable dinnerware. Look for more eco-friendly options.

* There are several ways to decorate the house in an economical way with the recycled material at your home and give your home a decorative and dazzling look.

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Adetee Sawhaney, Principal Designer, Altus Interio, suggests:

* Instead of using artificial colours to make rangoli at the entrance of your house, one can make them out of cardboard in interesting shapes and colour it.

* Burn smoke-free diyas which are readily available in the market.

* When buying sweets, reuse existing cardboard boxes from home.

* Wrap Diwali gifts in recycled newspaper.

* Look around your kitchen and you're bound to find unused empty glass bottles. Cover with bright cellophane paper or use colouring putty to create designs and give each bottle a new look. Place a candle or light strings inside to immediately brighten your room.

--IANS

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