When a wedding came up in the family, Meenakshi Bharat, a gynaecologist, explored ways of making it ecologically sustainable. Having taken part in a green wedding conducted by a sustainability pioneer years ago, Bharat went on to become a consultant to a couple of other such weddings. For her daughter’s wedding, also a green one, held in 2014, Bharat curated ‘what-to-do’ and ‘how-to-do’ guides for herself. So when it came down to her son’s wedding a few months ago, she knew the cues to a totally green nuptials.

The invitations were dispatched through email. Updates were subsequently sent out to the guests, giving them heads-up about the arrangements, along with instructions they had to follow to keep up the green theme. The venue was a garden where lush trees provided a natural canopy as well as cool breeze. The menu was fashioned with items that were natural and healthy and could be served in steelware and glass crockery. No paper rolls or bottled water either. Cloth napkins with the wedding logo, embossed by the autistic children of ASHA (Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism), where Bharat’s daughter works, were used instead of disposable tissue papers.

The local Chittara art and traditional rangoli drawn on khora cloth made up the stage backdrop and placements. Decorative hangings were made from painted coconut shells, while the decor was done with flowers strung without styrofoam or zari. In fact, Bharat went out on a limb to collect art created from waste.

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Little big steps: The venue for an ecologically sustainable wedding in Bengaluru was a garden where trees provided natural canopy as well as cool breeze, and crafted coconut shells added to the decor

 

Instruction boards guided guests to the corner for used plates, bowls and spoons, which were soaked and washed with bio-enzymes. No boxed presents were received and the return gift was a glass bottle with organic turmeric and a jasmine sapling. Bharat says the pleasure was in the diligent planning and attention to details. “I shredded and composted at home the food and wet waste generated at the event. There was hardly a sack full of dry waste. That satisfaction tops everything else.”

Ashwath Narayan CN, MLA, Malleswaram, had given 600 steel plates for the wedding from the constituency’s plate bank — one among the many waste management initiatives begun by the legislator. The plates are given free of cost to motivate others to adopt the initiative. Narayan points out that weddings with around 2,000 guests would normally generate six-seven tonnes of waste. Only if they are conducted responsibly will the waste management scenario in Bengaluru change for the better, he warns.

Bharat had hired the cleaning staff from Hasirudala, a membership-based non-profit organisation of waste pickers in Bengaluru. The cleaning table was placed beside the buffet table and a team of workers meticulously cleaned the plates, glasses and crockery. Nalini Shekar, co-founder, Hasirudala, says, “Two and a half years ago, at Meenakshi’s daughter’s wedding, I saw her friends clean the plates and crockery. That sparked the idea for this initiative. The first time, at a wedding in my friend’s family, I ended up cleaning 800 cups. We have evolved from there, and now we have a fair idea about the number of cleaning staff to be engaged for a function.” Tweaks in the future, says Bharat, could involve imparting specialised training to the cleaning staff, thus gearing them up for big events and factoring in the amount of waste likely to be generated at these events.

Green events are gaining currency among Bengaluru’s small, yet growing, ecologically sensible section of the population. Beginning with ideation, and extending to planning and execution, the green initiatives are sustainable, say its advocates. Expenses at a green wedding, they vouch, often work out much cheaper. And green philanthropists such as Bharat are willing to help out with reusables like plates, baskets and napkins, and their wisdom. The feel-good experience of such events have already inspired a strong, cultish following. Many organisations across Bengaluru have started providing plates, cutlery and crockery for weddings and other events for a refundable deposit.

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Little big steps The venue for an ecologically sustainable wedding in Bengaluru was a garden where trees provided natural canopy as well as cool breeze, and crafted coconut shells added to the decor

 

Shekar points out that the promotion of better waste management techniques and the plastic ban by the municipal body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike are setting the course for more green events in the city. To give it impetus, those like Narayan intend to spread the message in schools and colleges, through which, he believes, it will reach more families.

Green advocates admit some people have reservations over such initiatives. “There are conflicting perceptions of hygiene. People are not happy yet to move away from bottled water,” notes Shekar. “One look at a landfill will change perceptions radically,” counters Bharat.

Will more stringent rules work in order to achieve a complete turnaround in approach and involve the majority? Shekar thinks it will, “It will keep us on a fast track to reach our goal.” But Narayan doesn’t consider it the right path to adopt. “Enforcement is not the key to inspire change; political will and an efficient system are needed to keep the movement going .”

Vijayalakshmi Sridhar is an independent writer in Bengaluru

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