Celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali with seed crackers
Every year during the much-anticipated festival of lights, Diwali, the debate surrounding firecrackers causing significant sound and air pollution stands as ever persistent. However, this year an eco-friendly alternative has been discovered. Known as seed crackers or ‘beej patakha’, The entire concept behind this is that people get to sow crackers, instead of bursting them, a method that adds to the growing pollution.
What are seed crackers?
Seed crackers resemble fire crackers in appearance but instead of gun powder, they are rooted with live seeds that are ready to be sowed. They are environment friendly, pollution free and rejuvenate the habitats of birds and animals, instead of destroying them.
Who are the producers of seed crackers?
Organizations like Gram Art Project, Sow & Grow and 21 Fools are responsible for this innovation. They produce such sustainable crackers (100% biodegradable) as well as other live seed products that help in the growth of green cover apart from eliminating toxic side effects of traditional firecrackers.
In fact, Gram Art Project has an initiative called ‘Barood vs Beej’. The entire purpose is to retain the essence of a firecracker, by simply planting the cracker instead of burning them. For instance, the Golden Shower seed cracker, if planted, will result in the Golden Shower tree (Cassia Fistula), an ideal eco-friendly alternative to anar firecracker. It leads to a few seconds of golden shower, but has a harmful impact on the environment with the toxic ash and smoke it generates. For this year’s Diwali, the collective has produced 10 distinct types of seed crackers.
Sow & Grow, on the other hand, produces seed crackers in the shape of Ganesha or Lakshmi idols for Diwali. For this year’s Diwali, they have also created customizable cracker-shaped seed bombs.
Why was the initiative undertaken?
The concept of seed crackers is both new and unique. It was first introduced in 2016 to address the way in which India as a country celebrates festivals and victories and other auspicious occasions in an unsustainable manner. This is when the idea of seed crackers came into being, which emphasized on sowing and watering crackers, instead of bursting them, in turn contributing to a greener environment.
The entire idea behind this was to creatively tackle the pollution issue alongside promoting positive conservation of the nature and its resources. The companies also pledged to collectively bring out an alternative that would safeguard the interests of the animals who otherwise suffer miserably during the festivities.
The concept of seed crackers has also positively affected lives of marginalized communities, giving the local artisans and women in the rural areas chance to earn their own living.