With Christmas round the corner, groups singing carols have already started venturing
out. People are already in a mood to party, couples have started dancing their
blues away. Plans are being discussed for the design of the crib and yes, the
thought of eating those ‘neureos’ already make one’s mouth water. Importantly,
people are also busy thinking of innovative ways to decorate their homes.
The celebration of Christmas unites people regardless of
religion, region, caste and other considerations. Christmas is a festival
celebrated with much gaiety but sadly we are doing so at the cost of our
environment. We have been using materials made from plastic which is ultimately
causing harm to the environment. Floyd Baretto, a youth from Navelim said “I
decorate my house using the stars, lights, decorative balls, etc which I buy
every year from the nearby market. Mostly these decorative pieces are made of
plastic and are sold at a wider scale. It is easily accessible and very
affordable. The Christmas tree which is used in our house has been there for
the last four years”.
Stash Fernandes, another resident from Majorda said “The
decorations used for Christmas have already been there with us for the last 3
years, I reuse it every year to cut the decoration cost and save the
environment”. A simple method of incorporating the four R’s, i.e. Reuse,
Reduce, Rethink and Recycle, in one’s lifestyle could actually spread happiness
and reduce garbage. There are people who are trying to reduce the usage of
plastics and replace them with eco-friendly products. Mr. Deepchand Naik, a
retailer in Panjim said, “People prefer more eco-friendly decoration items
instead of the one’s made of plastic. Mostly the products made of paper are easily
sold because of its affordability. The wooden items are sold, but not on a
larger scale due to its high cost”.
There are more people
in the market who share this viewpoint. Bharti Natkarni, who is also a retailer
in Panjim, said “those individuals who take decorations specially stars, for
their homes prefer the paper ones but contrary to those who take it on larger
scale to be for public display, prefer plastic ones due to its longer
durability and water resistance”. She also makes some of the decoration
materials herself and encourages everyone to make something with their own
personal touch to it. There are people like Stash and Floyd who are reusing the
products at their home and Mr. Niak and Mrs. Bhatkarni who are trying to reduce
the usage of plastic, which will ultimately add to the health of the
environment of Goa.
The third R that
comes into play is to rethink, that is, how one can bring in new ideas to
celebrate without even negatively impacting the environment.
Eric Prince said
“Making Christmas trees out of ribbons and the plant twigs is beautiful. You
can even hang it and decorate it the way you want. We Goans stitch new clothes
during Christmas, so using the leftovers of the garments for making decorations
is a good idea as well. Also making a greeting card or writing a letter to our
loved ones is a closer way to connect rather than sending a Christmas card
bought from the market”. Francis Rebelo said “I make stars and flowers out of
paper”. He has been following this principle of a green Christmas for several
decades. Leanne Dias said “Along with stars, I also make other decorations like
Snowman, out of cotton and chart paper, Wraith and Christmas bells out of
cardboard”. Nikita Almeda said “using a glass decorated with small twigs of a
tree can result in a beautiful candle holder. Stars and gifts are a usual trend
during Christmas, so using recyclable materials for making and wrapping them
could be helpful too”. Finally with this comes the 4th R, that is to recycle.
It
is gratifying to learn that the awareness of the importance of maintaining the
environment has certainly increased and people are taking steps in their
personal life to ensure it is not being damaged as they go about living and
enjoying their life.
