I have been always fascinated with decorations. Balloons, buntings, paper plates, disposable cups, birthday caps, party poppers, props, gifts are the common thing we can visualise when we think of a birthday party. However, since I have started understanding about sustainable living and consumption, I now feel guilty of using them in my past. Also, I feel so many things are labelled as eco-friendly while they are not. We as consumers have to be more aware and understand between eco-friendly goods and the greenwashing techniques used by the companies in the name of eco-friendly goods. To cut it short for a product to be friendly it must be loving the earth in all the phases, starting from its manufacturing to distribution. Just putting the product in a paper bag doesn't make it eco-friendly. We need to research and understand about a lot of aspects while selecting a brand, but that we will discuss some other time.
Let us focus on decorations for today. With the arrival of baby in my life I have become more cautious and aware of my acts and their impact on the environment. I have made a fair amount of mistakes but I'm learning every day and trying to be a responsible consumer. I have started thinking before purchasing anything and everything about it's need in my life and impact on the environment.
One of the major changes I have made is to move away from the disposables and reuse the things I have in different ways for different occasions. Whenever I buy new things is whether it can be reused or not. Sitting at home 24x7 has not been easy especially when I was already sitting at home, waiting for arrival of my baby. Rudra arrived in Feb 2020 and since then we have been celebrating everything at home, thanks to COVID 19! However, we wanted to make the best use of WFH and have been blessed to spend 24x7 with our baby growing. Recording his milestones, baking cake at home and dressing him and doing home shoot have been memorable. However, as a super excited and creative person, I always liked to decorate everything! As I became more sensible (sustainable), I have unlearned some habits and I have found some wonderful sustainable décor ideas. Let me share how one can celebrate with re-usable and multipurpose décor items and ditch the plastic and disposables.
Re-usable and upcyled bunting and toran to decorate your home this festive season
I have realised that those blingy papers and balloons may look amazing in the pictures but are a nuisance for our environment and hence our future! And I certainly don’t want that. I hope you also realise that and start your journey of sustainable celebrations. Remember, its never too late to start and every effort, every little step matters!
Sakshiverma.du Verma
( India )