Over the last few years, Pragya Kapoor has played a key role in spreading eco-awareness among Bollywood celebrities and citizens of India. The renowned producer and eco-champion regularly organises beach clean-up drives and also motivates people to care for the environment by making small lifestyle changes. As the whole nation celebrates Diwali today, Pragya shared her plans to bring in the festival of lights and shared ways to make it eco-friendly.
Talking to PeepingMoon.com exclusively, Pragya told, "My plans for Diwali this year include finger-licking home-cooked food, home decked up by diyas and the company of my loved ones!" She added, "Every Diwali has its own special set of fond memories attached to it! The best part about the festival for me is getting together with my whole family and celebrating togetherness!"
Sharing her take on cracker-free Diwali, Pragya said, "We should all be conscious of our actions when it comes to celebrations and not get carried away by the spirit of our festivities in a way that harms our environment. I fully support a cracker-free Diwali since it not only means less noise pollution and child labour but a noiseless Diwali also means the animals inside and outside our homes are happier. We can opt to celebrate in different ways by spending quality time with your family and cooking, drawing colourful rangolis or indulging in other fun family games!"
Does she feel the Government and local corporations should come into the picture and make sure the surroundings are clean? "While extra help from local authorities always comes in handy, it is all our own personal responsibility to keep our environment clean. Small steps like switching to cloth bags instead of plastic bags and doing away with single-use plastics even when gifting can go a long way," Pragya shared.
When asked whether eco-friendly Diwali is the need of the hour, the producer and eco-advocate stated, "The picture is much larger than just an eco-friendly Diwali. We should be aware of our choices every single day and make sure our actions don’t harm the environment in any way – that, according to me, is the need of the hour!"
Pragya shared some ideas to make Diwali greener. "We can start with using eco-friendly earthen diyas and natural decor, eating and shopping local as much as we can. With spring-cleaning the house during Diwali being commonplace, we can get creative with it by upcycling house waste. We can also opt for natural rangolis made out of flowers, turmeric, kumkum, etc instead of harmful colours. Of course, a cracker-free and noiseless Diwali will take us a long way," she added.