Bhumi Pednekar calls for eco-friendly Ganapati celebration

As Mumbai gears up to celebrate the Indian festival of Ganpati this summer, Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar has urged her fans and citizens to choose eco-friendly Ganpati for the festivities.

“This is my most favourite festival and we have been celebrating Ganpati for years in my family. Since, I have been on this journey of climate conservation, I have realised that there are better ways of celebrating this festival, more sustainable ways,” said Pednekar in a statement.

During the festival, celebrants immerse statues of the Hindu deity Ganpati into water bodies. Over the years, qualms have been raised over some statues being made of materials that are harmful to water bodies and nature.

The Bollywood actress is an advocate of conserving the environment and even launched an online and offline initiative called ‘Climate Warrior’ through which she is mobilising citizens of India to contribute towards protecting the environment.

For the Ganpati festival, Pednekar has joined hands with sculptor and environment activist Dattadri from Maharashtra to spread this message.

Dattadri specialises in making tree Ganpati idols with seeds planted inside the idol. The idol can be immersed in clay pots after the festivities are over and the seeds then sprout to life, giving birth to a new tree. She will also upload several DIY ways of making Ganpati figures at home, which are eco-friendly, in a bid to create climate awareness.

“I really hope that concepts like these are adopted by the citizens at home to spread the message of ecological conservation to the next generations. I hope people are inspired to act and choose environment friendly alternatives like this which are revolutionary ideas to protect our country. We have to work to change the mindset of the people and try and make them realise that you can celebrate the festivals with all gusto but you can also celebrate them in the most environmentally conscious way too,” said Pednekar.