Pune citizens recycle clay from Ganesha idols to minimise impacts of clay mining
By Manish Kumar
Mongabay
October 7, 2022
A campaign initiated in Pune city collected 15,000 kilograms of clay sludge after the traditional immersion of Ganesh idols during the recent Ganesh festival. This clay sludge will be used by idol makers for making new idols.
Natural clay is a non-renewable material usually mined in states like Gujarat and West Bengal and brought to Maharashtra and other parts of India to make idols. Clay mining in some cases has impacts on the environment and the health of the miners.
Other than clay recycling, organisations, citizens and the local municipal corporation in Pune have called on other efforts such as reusing festival flowers and other religious wastes in compost, to make festivals more sustainable.
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