Prayagraj: Devoted to a cause when it pervades all aspects of life, Ajay Kumar Tiwari from Pratapgarh decided to have a ‘Green Protocol' wedding to do his bit to save the environment.
A ‘Green Protocol' wedding is one in which plastic and other non-biodegradable articles, including disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations, are not used in ceremonies.
The Tiwari family has invited its guests and relatives to the ‘Subh Harit Tilkotsav' and ‘Green baraat' to be solemnised on Nov 28 and Dec 9, respectively.
Tiwari told TOI, "While fixing my son's marriage, I appealed to the bride's father to gift saplings to the guests to ensure that it should be a ‘Harit Tilkotsav'." He added, "We made bulk orders for dona pattal and kulhar for all wedding-related events, including tilak and marriage ceremony to make it an environment-friendly affair."
The family has arranged over 500 saplings to be distributed among relatives and friends as gifts during the green baraat. Tiwari, however, said, "When I first discussed the green tilak and green baraat concept with my relatives and friends, they all were taken aback but later agreed to the proposal." Tiwari, who is into environmental activities for a long time, managed to convince all relatives and like-minded friends with the concept that the green tilak and baraat will surely be able to create awareness among visitors to take care of the environment and pro-green activities.
Disposable material will also be avoided in decorating the wedding venue. Even the wedding card was made with reused paper. "I was entirely interested in the concept of ‘Green Protocol'." Ajay, meanwhile, said, "The cost of conducting a green wedding is almost the same as that of a normal one if we coordinate well with the organisers." We are also coordinating with the decorator and catering team, without which it wouldn't be possible to make it a success. For the caterers, arranging a large amount of kulhar (to save them from breaking) is really difficult as they need more care and for which they need more staff," Ajay said. Recyclable waste will also be collected from the tilak and wedding venue, and some of the items will be reused for the decorations.
Moreover, we are also focusing on not wasting food, fearing that guests might take it as an insult. The wastage of food is a major issue at the majority of weddings, and we would make an appeal to guests for another novel cause. Ajay said, "Green marriages are common in Kerala, where people take all steps to protect the environment and increase the green cover." He said, "Citizens of UP should also come forward to adopt a similar concept to increase the green cover."