Diwali is a chance to light the lamp, remember all our blessings pray to the Goddess plus do our part to celebrate a Green Diwali. With that in mind, I plan to use the three Rs of a Green life.
But Reduce, Reuse, recycle is only possible when you, your family help. This year for Durga Puja and Diwali, I have changed my strategy for new clothes and home furnishings.I am not buying any. Instead, I am trying to recycle and reinvent my existing clothes and furnishings.
Three things have helped me decide in favor of less is more.By the way this post is sponsored, but the information provided is in no way affected by that relationship.My responsibility is towards my readers and that’s why you know first.
No.1
The pandemic showed us that health and financial freedom are way more important than anything else. Less shopping helps me with both of those. The more healthy you are, you spend less on doctor visits, lab tests, and medicines. The less you shop, the less you are fighting with crowds(retail shops and supermarkets) or staring at the screen( blue light and several other issues). Also, your bank balance grows. Isn’t that a part of our prayers during praying to Goddess Laxmi?
No.2:
Having no house help means you clean the home, do laundry, cook, teach the child, and do your work. Right? If I wanted less laundry to do, if I wished to make fewer decisions making while sorting, organizing clothes, I needed less, not more. Right? If I wanted my clothes cleaner without taking the skin off my hand, I needed a gentle but effective liquid laundry detergent.
Do you want your clothes clean and soft too? But not at the expense of your hands or mother earth, right?
Even though India didn’t have many options previously, several brands now have plant-based laundry care products.
PUER is one such with an entire range of clean green laundry liquids to help you take care of your clothes and keep mother earth clean.Did you know excess chemicals in soaps and cleaners destroy the sewage water’s microbiota and give rise to resistant organisms?
Did you know you can save water when you use green laundry detergents? My current favorite is Brand Nourish’s PUER Liquid Detergent Advance care. It’s a blend of Ecocert and COSMOS ingredients.
They have three varieties of liquid detergents:
Brand Nourish’s PUER Liquid Detergent Advance Care Blooming Garden pink
Brand Nourish’s PUER Liquid Detergent Everlasting Bloom green
Brand Nourish’s PUER Liquid Detergent Intense Clean French Lavender purple.
The bottles are pretty well designed and very easy to open, close, and pour. The Ecocert ingredients in the liquid detergents ensure the detergents are safe for the environment. A step toward using green products is a commitment towards inclusive earth, that makes the world safe for all living beings. Your dirty laundry will now no longer make the water dirty for flora, fauna, and us.
The fragrance is natural and IFRA certified. PUER uses plant-based surfactants, not one but four. It’s free from SLS sulfates, Surfactants. All this is very good, but does PUER liquid detergent cleans as well as it promises. I tried it and then wrote this. Yes, it does. For a quick load, use one cap load per washing load. If it’s an extra dirty load, you need one and a half cups for each load.
Remember these points about Brand Nourish PUER Liquid detergents:
They have 6 Bio enzymes that remove stains effectively
4 plant-based surfactants. Their liquid detergent is also skin-friendly with a lovely fragrance.
They are made with Ecocert and cosmos ingredients
They are free from sulfates, phosphates, and LABSA (made from petroleum byproduct-linear alkylbenzene sulphonIC Acid)and still clean consistently.
Plus, they are affordable and readily available on their own website as well as Flipkart and Amazon.
The only con: The detailed list of ingredients is missing. That would make this mother happier.
No.3
I am happier when I am not actively creating waste products and making the world a better place for my daughter and all other kids. While talking about climate change and being eco-friendly is very trending, doing the right thing takes a lot of sacrifice for each of us. Taking socially and environmentally responsible action steps is not for the weak-hearted. It needs resolve and a vision for the future. A future where you and I may not be a part of, but our children will be. As a parent I cant do this alone. That’s why I try to work with eco-friendly brands that take their social duties seriously.
How else can you be responsible for this Diwali?
Use recipes from your mom’s and Grandma’s kitchen to create those sweets at home. Skip the junk, preservatives, unnecessary extra sugar, poor quality fat. Try to use pure ghee, just the right amount of sweetness, and plenty of love to make those delicious laddoos, kheer, halwa, and other mouthwatering delicacies.
Did you know the Indian Ghee is far superior to many other sources of fat? Most Indian sweet shops dont have a list of ingredients. The packaged sweets have all sorts of additives and unhealthy oils. But when you are making it at home, you know exactly what’s going inside you. You are what you eat, and this Diwali, eat right in small portions.
Recycle decorations if possible.
Clean the Diyas, give them a good wash, then sun dry them. Afterward, you can paint them with colorful acrylic paints, and your home will sparkle with their beauty. For the last eight years, I have not bought clay Pratima. Instead, I have a bronze Goddess Laxmi. That way, my puja place looks brilliant throughout the year, and I am not polluting the water in anyways.
Preventing air pollution and sound pollution throughout the year during festivals of all religions is important. That’s something I have always stressed.
Finish up with the Diwali cleaning and get dressed up because Goddess Laxmi is waiting to visit your home. Have a happy, sweet, and light-filled Diwali. May you be always blessed.
Really good wisdom in this post. And the laundry detergent sounds very impressive!
Thanks Jeanine.
I always enjoy using recipes handed down from my grandmother and mom. As for recycling and repurposing, I’m always up for a challenge to use something “useless” into some useful.
I love how creative you are with recipes and around the home Martha
Great approach to follow the three Rs! These days we’re practically forced to reuse things since new stuff isn’t available in most countries. I’m thinking cars, appliances or computers.
I didn’t quite understand why less shopping would mean spending less screen time. In my experience during lockdown my family spent *more* time watching videos, blogging or playing games on the mobile phone.
A very happy Diwali to you and your family! It’s tomorrow, right?
Thank you .I was talking about online shopping increasing screen time.Otherwise, shopping would indeed be almost exercise.
very creative post. Like you, I believe we have to be more conscious of our actions to ensure that the world is better for our children. During the pandemic, many of us had to sacrifice and we saw that some actions before (buying a lot of new clothes etc) weren’t necessary to have a good life.
Yes, we need much less than we think we do. Glad you liked the post.
Hi Dr. Amrita, love how you connected Diwali to environment and eco-friendly products. I’m going to check them out as I am always looking for options. Love the artwork created by you and your daughter.
Thank you .Glad you liked it.