Environment
Actor Dia Mirza Shares A Guide On How To Celebrate Birthdays In A Waste-Free Way
Actor Dia Mirza shares a quick guide on how parents can celebrate eco-friendly birthday parties
New Delhi: Dia Mirza, Actor, Eco-investor, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador & UN Secretary-General’s Advocate For Sustainable Development Goals, recently celebrated her son, Avyaan Azad Rekhi’s second birthday, which was hosted in a sustainable way – Zero Waste and Plastic Free. Sharing the glimpses of the sustainable celebration on her social media, the actor shared a short video in which she has highlighted how easy it is to celebrate such occasions in a waste-free manner.
Explaining her sustainable choices and how the actor managed this waste-free event, she mentions in her video that she opted for reusable lanterns instead of plastic balloons; ditched the plastic cutlery and opted for bamboo and reusable alternatives; didn’t opt for any plastic decoration instead opted for sustainable options like linen table cloth, Avyaan’s old toys, upcycled cloth buntings; for games corner opted for organic crayons and pottery; return gifts were made sustainably as well with, trees were grown in the name of children, there was sustainable luggage tags; and last but not the least, there was waste segregation corner as well.”
Also Read: We Cannot Achieve ‘Health For All’ Unless We Ensure No One Is Left Behind: Dia Mirza
Watch The Video
Dia Mirza, who is known for her environment-conscious choices, has time and again successfully used her fame and influence to bring about a positive change in society. Talking about the need for educating our children on celebrating things in an eco-friendly way, the actor quoted her social post, saying,
Zero waste, zero plastic birthday. Because what’s good for our children is good for the planet.
Ms Mirza also explained how the waste was managed in a green way. Mentioning the numbers, in a post, she said,
Wet waste: 23 kgs; Coconut Shells : 15 kgs; Dry waste : 5 kgs. Wet waste comprised mainly of kitchen waste , banana leaves. Coconut shells were sent for drying and processing to make coco peat. Dry waste mainly comprising some paper cups was sent for recycling.
Watch: Government And People Need To Do More For A Sustainable Future: Dia Mirza
This is not one of the first time, when Ms Mirza has marked an occasion in an environment-friendly way. Back in 2021, Ms Mirza tied the knot with Vaibhav Rekhi in a completely sustainable manner, with hand-crafted gift bags, reusable clothes, no food wastage, green and eco-friendly decoration and zero plastic.
In an earlier interview to team Banega Swasth India, Actor Dia Mirza said that each and every individual must contribute towards climate action. She shared seven steps on how individuals can contribute towards climate change and said,
“Individuals can contribute by doing the following:
1. Eat mostly plant-based diets and consume more local and seasonal fruits and vegetables
2. Consume less and waste less
3. Grow more indigenous trees, I personally replaced all material gifts with planting trees in the name of people I would want to give something
4. Refuse all single use plastic and packaging
5. Save energy, water and fuel. Simple actions like replacing regular light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs, investing in energy efficient gadgets, turning off the mains and appliances when not in use, taking shorter baths lasting upto 5 minutes or single bucket baths. Turning taps off while soaping, ensuring water tanks are not overflowing by installing water check systems can save a lot of water. Carpooling, avoiding unnecessary travel, using public transportation are again some examples of saving fuel
6. Make festivities and celebrations waste-free and earth friendly. Manage your waste at home by segregating, composting, recycling and repairing
7. Lastly, support individuals and organisation that work towards the protection of forests and wildlife”
Also Read: Actor Dia Mirza Shares How She Copes With Stress During Pandemic
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.