Social entrepreneur gives green spin to Ganesh Chaturthi with idols made from jewellery waste
Waste warrior Dr Binish Desai has come up with the idea of making “green” Ganesh idols from jewellery waste. Moreover, he ensures the entire celebration, right from homecoming to visarjan is environment-friendly.
Most of us are familiar with the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, where the idol of Lord Ganesha is brought home with pomp and on the designated day, and immersed in a water body. However, what remains a matter of concern with this ritual is that most of the idols are made of Plaster of Paris (PoP), which has harmful effects on the environment and poses a threat to the marine ecosystem.
While alternative solutions for celebrating a ‘green’ Ganesh Chaturthi are gaining in popularity and most devotees have switched to clay idols, more needs to be done.
Dr Binish Desai along with his eco-friendly products (Image: NDTV)
Dr Binish Desai, a 26-year-old social entrepreneur from Gujarat is making eco-friendly Ganesh idols from jewellery waste.
How is this possible? Speaking to NDTV, Binish who is also the Founder of Eco Eclectic Technologies, said, “During the making of artificial jewellery, glass beads are scuffed, leaving powdered waste which is non-recyclable. Usually, jewellery manufacturers discard the jewellery waste which makes its way to the landfills.”
He added,
“To stop this waste from reaching landfills and give it a new lease of life, we decided to use it in the making of the eco-Ganesha. We collect the jewellery waste and use a special binder to bind the waste and give it the shape of an idol. Later, the idol is painted using three colours – red, yellow and light purple or crystal. Since all three colours are derived from flowers, they are environment-friendly. The entire idol is made from waste.”
Not only is the idol made from waste, but the entire procedure from conception to immersion is eco-friendly. The entire celebration is divided into four steps, homecoming, visarjan (immersion of the idol), repacking and repurposing. According to Binish, his eco-Ganesh comes with a visarjan bag and the devotee can immerse the idol in a tub filled with water instead of a river to avoid pollution.
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Ganesh idol in the making (Image: NDTV)
The idol can then be packed in the visarjan bag as it is not made from soluble material, which can be sent to them or a pick up can be arranged for the same.
After receiving the idol, the team starts on the repurposing, under which the idol sent is upcycled into memorabilia and sent back to the user. In terms of pricing, it will range between Rs 1,800 and Rs 12,000 and the eco-Ganesha will be available from next year.
Apart from the eco-friendly Ganeshas, Binish is also an active waste warrior who has been using furniture from recycled waste.
His Gujarat-based company also produces small products like clocks and lamps made from 15 types of scraps. The desks in his office are made from textile, human hair, and Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) waste, whereas the floors are made with the dregs generated from paper and textile mills, reports Femina.
Till date, Binesh has recycled 1,780 tonnes of waste benefitting 9,000 households so far.
“We all should work towards a sustainable responsibility where we celebrate festivals in a eco-friendly way as that is our biggest worship to nature and mother Earth”, Binish told NDTV.
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
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