Temples Lead the Green Way #WATWB
At any religious place in India you will notice abundance of flowers that are being offered to the Gods. Ever wonder what happens to these sacred flowers once the prayers are done?
According to many religious beliefs, flowers that are offered during prayers are sacrosanct and cannot be dumped into the garbage once they’ve wilted. So, these temple offerings are usually discarded in rivers, lakes or ponds.
That being an environmental hazard, some religious places are contributing to a garbage-free campaign in Mumbai along with some housing societies.
Two temple trusts of Parleshwar and Mahalakshmi temples area are converting the offerings to deities such as flowers, coconut, sweets, ghee, curd etc into compost. They have installed three compost boxes in their premises. Working all year round, the Swachh Parle Trust doubles their efforts during Ganesh Festivals. In February, for instance, they harvested 750 kgs of compost!
Temple employees keep adding new offerings to the compost bins regularly, mixing them and sprinkling water to keep it moist.
Even kitchen compost is added, to maintain healthy pH values of the compost. This way, the temples yield about 6-7 bags of compost every month, which is then used to nurture about 150 trees in the vicinity.
Utilizing the offerings to maintain greenery in the ever-expanding concrete jungle of Mumbai is certainly a fabulous initiative. Next time you go to either of these temples in Mumbai, you’ll know that your offerings are indeed going to God–Mother Earth!
This post is part of the We Are the World Blogfest, a monthly event created by Damyanti Biswas and Belinda Witzenhausen to showcase stories of hope and light. This month I’m helping out as a co-host, along with extraordinary bloggers Simon Falk, Mary J Giese, Dan Antion,and Damyanti Biswas —please hop over to check out their WATWB posts as well as from other WATWB participants for a dose of feel-good to last you a whole month. You’ll be happy you did!
Click HERE to check out the intention and rules of the blogfest and feel free to sign up at any time. You are always welcome!
July 1, 2018 6:05 pm|
A clever win win!
July 4, 2018 5:32 pm|
Absolutely!
July 1, 2018 9:32 pm|
Indeed that’s a great initiative by the temples. More power to them in this effort.
July 4, 2018 6:02 pm|
True. Glad that they are doing their bit making our planet green!
July 1, 2018 10:46 pm|
Great initiative, Shilpa. I wish more more people adopt such innovative solutions.
– Pradeep | #WATWB participant | bpradeepnair.blogspot.com
July 4, 2018 6:03 pm|
Agree with that completely!
July 2, 2018 10:38 am|
Such great initiatives ought to be taken up in more places. Everybody gains and Mother Earth is also happy.
Do check out my WATWB post for this month.
July 4, 2018 6:02 pm|
Well said. Truly hope that this initiative gets replicated at all temples.
July 2, 2018 11:32 am|
So glad, such initiatives are being undertaken. Hopeful more such measures are taken by other temples across the country.
July 4, 2018 6:03 pm|
Amen to that!
July 2, 2018 3:53 pm|
This is news to me, thanks for sharing, I Pray and wish that all the other places also follow this example…
July 4, 2018 6:04 pm|
I join you in wishing that too. Thanks Genevive!
July 2, 2018 5:02 pm|
Such a good news really. Let’s hope this spreads everywhere like viral 🙂
July 4, 2018 6:04 pm|
Fingers crossed!
July 2, 2018 7:08 pm|
This is wonderful. More religious places need to take this into consideration. Would save so much.
July 4, 2018 6:05 pm|
Agree. It’s an simple process, which can be managed easily by the temple authorities or even locals!
July 3, 2018 10:27 am|
That’s a great initiative to turn the flowers and offerings into a natural compost and give it back to nature rather than polluting our water bodies or just dumping them.
July 4, 2018 6:06 pm|
Agree. Have seen some of the temples have huge dumping grounds for these offerings and that smells so bad!
July 3, 2018 11:41 am|
Very intellectual initiative.
July 4, 2018 6:12 pm|
It’s an initiative that has the potential to make a difference in making our planet green!
July 3, 2018 1:57 pm|
I didnt know that, Parleshwar and Mahalakshmi temples are really doing a good job. We should create more awareness so that we can get to see compost boxes in every temple.
July 4, 2018 6:14 pm|
Absolutely! It should be replicated in all temples and also because it is a simple and easy process. All that is needed is a bit of effort and awareness.
July 3, 2018 3:26 pm|
This is a fantastic initiative. I hated it when all the offerings landed up in rivers. Compost is something that every place of worship can create.
July 4, 2018 9:15 pm|
True that. Every place of worship can take this up and help keep the place and environment clean and green!
July 3, 2018 3:28 pm|
Wow. Amazing and brilliant idea. Need of the hour. Hope other temples also follow these footsteps.
July 4, 2018 9:16 pm|
Hope so!
July 4, 2018 1:01 am|
Glad that some organizations are taking up these social issues like tackling flower waste in innovative ways,
July 4, 2018 9:17 pm|
Yeah, it’s a great initiative!
July 4, 2018 8:35 am|
Brilliant idea and initiative. I wish there should be many more such campaigns that can save environment.
July 4, 2018 9:19 pm|
Agree. Hope people take note of this and implement this all around!
July 4, 2018 10:03 am|
Such a nice initiative. I wish these kind of campaigns gain popularity and work towards a better environment.
July 4, 2018 9:39 pm|
Amen to that!
July 4, 2018 1:27 pm|
This is incredible Shilpa, I am impressed by the initiative which should be replicated.
July 4, 2018 9:40 pm|
Agree, this initiative should be adopted by all temples.
July 4, 2018 11:25 pm|
This is a great initiative hope more temples follow the suit.
July 5, 2018 12:33 pm|
This is the best solution at present. Earlier, I also used to feel bad that we offer these flowers to God and then they added to different rivers. But now this compost can be used to nurture more and more plants.
August 29, 2018 8:09 pm|
A concrete step in the direction of Eco-friendliness by none other than the temple trusts is so commendable. It sure will lead to many more following the steps.
Thanks for sharing this piece of positive news Shilpa. Though resident of Mumbai, did not know about it.
August 31, 2018 6:14 am|
Great to see such an initiative from temples— Mother Earth needs all the love we can give her.
I use composting for my kitchen scrap, and find it a great way to nurture my garden.