Represenative image. (Photo Credit: Unsplash)
In 2023, in Bengaluru, Anupama Harish and Charulatha R embarked on an interesting journey as their children, Ashutosh and Nidhi, prepared to tie the knot. The wedding date was fixed for three months ahead, prompting a rush in preparations for the big day.
During the detailed discussions about the wedding arrangements, a pivotal condition was put forth by the groom’s mother that the wedding had to be entirely devoid of plastic. Fast forward to the wedding itself, they achieved this feat through various means, including eco-friendly decorations, the use of steel utensils, and implementing plans for composting food waste.
According to The Better India, bride’s mother Charulatha said, “We were more than happy to accept Anupama’s condition.”
She added, “Plastic litter has always bothered me. We already compost at home and I have a terrace garden where I use it. Even the engagement ceremony we arranged did not have plastic, so we gladly took up the challenge of having a plastic-free wedding.”
Harish assumed the crucial role of managing waste and guaranteed a plastic-free event. Emphasising that a significant portion of the work necessary for carrying out such an occasion should commence during the planning phase itself, starting right from the invitations. This underscores the importance of meticulously planning a wedding free from plastic usage.
In order to reduce waste both parties made minimalistic invitation cards with a message- ‘We are attempting a minimum waste wedding. We sincerely request you to avoid bouquets and gift wrappers’.
Food is a major component of waste at weddings.
According to Ground Report, “An average Indian wedding generates about 200–300 kg of food waste which amounts to almost 20% of the food going to waste. Cumulatively, it amounts to $14 billion worth of meals.”
“We decided on a menu that would involve less cutlery and chose dishes accordingly. We also didn’t want any plastic cups or water bottles. We rented steel cutlery from Adamya Chetana, a free cutlery bank. Food was served on banana leaves. We only used steel plates for the reception,” said Harish.
An assumption often prevails that executing a low-waste strategy is only feasible in smaller weddings. However, Harish and Charulatha defied this notion, implementing their eco-friendly blueprint successfully in their grand Indian wedding. With over 1,000 guests attending the reception and muhurtam, they managed to steer clear of generating any plastic waste.
Harish took proactive steps to prevent any wedding waste from reaching landfills by enlisting the expertise of her ‘composting guru,’ Vasuki Iyengar who is a key member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) in Bengaluru, collaborated with six other SWMRT members to oversee the management of all waste produced during the wedding.
Iyengar said, “Low-waste weddings are the need of the hour. Biodegradable waste is usually mixed with plastic waste and dumped in landfills. So our team was present at the venue, and we placed drums filled with cocopeat to collect the waste. We instructed the kitchen, catering and cleaning staff to segregate the waste and put the wet waste in the drums.”
He emphasised that the utilisation of steel utensils helped evade the need for 30,000 single-use disposables. Additionally, they opted for 19-year-old butter paper for gifting purposes.
Gifts form a significant element of Indian weddings.
Harish stumbled upon a sizable stack of butter paper stashed away since her son’s thread ceremony back in 2004. She repurposed this discovery to wrap the gifts intended for the wedding guests.
Harish said, “I gave everyone naturally dyed blouse pieces. Even if one doesn’t stitch it, they’ll definitely hand it over to someone else. I also used all the arishina kumkuma (turmeric and vermillion powder) that I had at home and packed them in papers,” according to the digital platform.
She also shared, “You can have a cutlery bank of 50-100 utensils amongst your family and friends and circulate it around. Isn’t this how our mothers and grandmothers lived? My wedding was effortlessly plastic-free; that’s how all events were conducted during my time. Today, we need to highlight such an event.”
Harish and Charulatha serve as inspiration, urging us to return to a natural way of living, all in the name of preserving the environment.