Festivals - Holi

Holi 2022 celebration in India. 

Source: National Today

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is a religious Spring festival celebrated by Hindus. This year, Holi falls on the 18th of March. Although celebrated a little differently according to cultural practices, the more common ways of celebrating are by lighting bonfires and throwing water and powder paints of various colours to commemorate love, spring and new life (BBC, 2022). Holi is also celebrated in Singapore, and the biggest scale event is organised by Rang De Holi every year, where people get to throw rainbow-coloured powders in an open field. But this event is celebrated on an even larger scale in India and Nepal due to its historical and cultural significance. As with all events and festivities however, this celebration has also drawn the attention of environmentalists for its toxic effects on humans and ecosystems.

Taking a look at a research paper by Gardner and Lal (2012), the impacts of Holi celebrations are found to be significantly detrimental to both human health and the ecological balance. Originally, the colourful powders used during Holi observances were made out of medicinal herbs such as Neem and Haldi (Turmeric). However, there was a switch to synthetic dyes for mass production which were found to contain acids, glass powder, alkalis, and even heavy metals, all of which can be extremely harmful to skin and can result in irritation, asthma, skin diseases and more (Gardner & Lal, 2012). Synthetic dyes are also used for the colouring of water, which eventually ends up polluting rivers or water bodies and contaminating groundwater through leeching of soil. The dyes are found to be difficult to remove through the usual wastewater treatment processes and take a long time to degrade, which in turn affects the organisms and biota in the aquatic environments. In their research, water and soil samples taken at the sites of Holi celebrations revealed that bacteria decolorises, transforms and mineralises coloured soil and water, affecting soil fertility and microorganisms in the ecosystem (Gardner & Lal, 2012). Luckily, there has been increasing awareness regarding the toxicity of such substances and efforts undertaken by NGOs, supported by the Delhi government's environment department, to switch to safer vegetable and flower-based dyes. Seeing as this article is rather dated, there is likely to be more measures in place now to ensure that Holi is practiced in a safe and less harmful way. There are also various sites which advise the public on how to celebrate Holi in an environmentally-friendly way and how to make their own nature-based dyes. This website even covers precautions for pet owners to take and advises against the wastage of water and unnecessary plastic. 

References:

BBC. (2021, October 29). What is Holi? BBC Bitesize. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zh86n39/articles/z4qqy9q#:~:text=Holi%20is%20a%20Hindu%20festival,the%20%22festival%20of%20colours%22. 

Gardner, J. J., & Lal, D. (2012). Impact of ‘Holi’ on the environment: A scientific study. Archives of Applied Science Research, 4(3), 1403–1410. https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/impact-of-holi-on-the-environment-a-scientific-study.pdf

Mirror Now Digital. (2022, March 18). Happy Holi: 7 environment-friendly ways to celebrate the festival of colours. TimesNow. https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/happy-holi-7-environment-friendly-ways-to-celebrate-the-festival-of-colours-article-90300453