“Bura na mano, Holi hai.”
Or the age-old cry of “don’t be offended, it’s Holi.” It is ringing in every part of India and every place where Indians are. Yet are you scared to go out and celebrate- concerned about the environmental impact of this festival? Especially when water crisis in major cities are rising like tidal waves?
Well, the internet is there to your rescue with its tips on how to celebrate a green and dry Holi. From woven cloth balloons replacing plastic water balloons to organic colours and communal symbolic Holika Dahan over small bonfires, there is no end of tips for an eco-friendly Holi.
I am not here to add to those tips. I would rather tell you how to be more eco-friendly in your Holi celebrations without feeling burnt-out. Aka a realistically sustainable Holi.
As someone who grew up loving the waterworks, rain dancing, colour fights, and overall celebration that is Holi, I struggle with sharing tips on how to make it more eco-friendly. If I feel that if skipping the rain dance is a sacrifice then how can I ask others to do so? I can’t.
Yet the environmentalist in me will not let me waste water or throw toxins in the air in the name of celebration either.
So what do I do? Sit and cry caught in the anguish of wanting to join the Holi celebrations but stopped by my morals?
Of course not. That’s not healthy sustainable living. Isolating myself and denying myself the joys of a festival I love will not reverse climate change. Actions to make the festival more eco-friendly will. And as Isabelle Dury says in Finding Sanity, community interaction is one of the best ways to fight against climate change.
So here’s how to be an imperfect environmentalist this Holi.
Imperfect Sustainability Tips for Holi
Do Not Throw Away the Clothes You Wear for Holi
Now, I don’t know about you but in my family, we do not wear new or even “good” clothes on Holi. No, the clothes we are most likely to discard get worn for Holi. Yet, wouldn’t it be more sustainable to donate those clothes? Perhaps. However, if you continue to wear your Holi clothes beyond Holi or repurpose them, that is sustainable too.
And who says the clothes can’t be washed and donated after Holi? The idea that Holi clothing is no longer aesthetic is the problem and one that I phased out this year. After all, it’s just colors! And if you can’t wear them again, those clothes make for great pochas or mops to clean your floors. My mother has been repurposing clothes like that all her life.
Let’s Talk Colour
Now the best way to go about it is to use toxin-free, earth-safe colours when playing Holi. Organic ones. They are better for your skin too and who wants to kill marine animals in the name of festivities?
Yet, they can be more on the expensive side and not everyone has access to them. Does that mean your eco-friendly Holi is over? Of course not! Here’s my imperfectly realistically sustainable Holi tip- make your own Holi colours using ingredients in your kitchen that might be expiring soon. Just avoid the chili.
Or use flowers.
Using roli and chandan from the mandir can be an option too but I am not courageous enough to ask my mother if hers are eco-friendly. Are you?
It’s Time to Dance…In the Rain
Now look, I can replace my water balloons with cloth ones or even forsake them entirely. I have not touched a plastic pickari or a plastic water gun in years. However, dancing with my friends while water pours on us, now that is something I can’t give up…yet. Or perhaps ever. And in the world of imperfect sustainable living, that is okay. After all, it is about doing what you can. Yet, if you are like me, you don’t want to waste water, especially when there are so many water crises. So what can we do?
Well, you can reuse your pickaris and water guns, but you can’t reuse water…or can you. Replace filling buckets with water and throwing them on one another, with dancing in a garden that needs watering. Then you can dance as the grass and plants are watered. It is not a perfect solution….so if you have a better one, please let me know in the comments below.
And if there is a rain dance going to happen in your complex, whether you like it or not, just go join. And then annoy whoever is in charge by asking how is the water being reused and circled back into ground water or a closed loop system.
Given that Bangelore, one of the major cities in our nation, is going through a severe water crisis though…these celebrations feel a little tone-deaf, which is why I will try to stick to dry colours as far as possible this year. Because while having fun is important, so is conserving resources.
After all, the main ingredient of Holi is to celebrate with those you love. So if your eco-friendly brain won’t let you do much but you still feel blue, just give your loved ones a hug, donate some sweets, and dance in your room with some haldi on your face. Just make sure you don’t have dry skin, apparently haldi dries it further.
Having these choices and celebrations is a privilege. With that privilege comes a responsibility- to strike a need between our happiness and that of the planet. So, if you are wondering how to make your Holi celebrations green, get those cloth balloons, have a dry Holi, and a communal bonfire. But if you are like me and struggling to strike that chord between eco-friendliness and joy, welcome.
Let me know in the comments what you did to have fun without taxing Planet Earth.
Updated- 14/03/2024
Author’s Note: Hopefully this blog helped you feel more at peace and make your Holi celebrations greener. A comment, a share, or a YouTube subscription, goes a long way in helping me making this a full-time career. And if you decide to pay what you can, that is always welcome. Happy holi, let’s spread some cheer in our communities. Realistically.
Anjali's Musings 