Eco-friendly festivals: Now, Lord Ganesh idols with plantable herb seeds

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 9 : Organisations are now coming up with eco-friendly initiatives for Ganesh Chaturthi and other festivals such as idols containing herb seeds which can be planted.
A Lucknow-based non-profit organisation named Citizen Development Foundation has used Giloy and Tulsi seeds in Lord Ganesh idols, so that people can place them in pots or gardens after use. Once mature, they can turn into beautiful plants as well.
"With Ganesh Chaturthi coming up, we are distributing the idols of the Lord to people. We have added Giloy and Tulsi seeds in diyas and Idols so that people don't have to buy their seeds, which are expensive," a woman working with the organisation said.
Pointing out the number of items made by the organisation, she said, "With an eye on Diwali, we have also manufactured diyas made of cow dung, apart from idols of Lord Ganesh and Lakshmi. We also make other items like woods for cremation and herbal soaps. We also have the concept of Herbal Swadeshi this Diwali.
"The organisation is trying to make women self-reliant. We recycle products from homes and temples," she said.
Speaking about the difficulties the women faced during the lockdown, she added, "This year since March many became unemployed due to Corona. Women were wondering what to do as we were unable to sell products. We go door to door to publicise our products."
"We also decided to manufacture herbal hand sanitizers which we supplied to the government as well. We also made 2,00,000 masks which we sold in slum areas. Then we organised awareness camps on social distancing.
As per the organisation, it has 300 teams which train women to become self-reliant. The organisation makes 100 earthen lamps in an hour and five pairs of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi idols in an hour, it said.