A wedding with nearly 3,000 guests and attendants that generated only 38 kg of waste? This was made possible, thanks to the “green wedding” concept initiated by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and the district administration in a bid to reduce waste generation and enhance the cleanliness of the city.
The concept was launched some time ago and so far two green weddings have taken place in the city, the latest being on April 24 where all the guests were served lunch and dinner on reusable stainless steel plates and tumblers, which obviated the use of any plastic material.
A team of officials, including Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar, MCC Commissioner Shilpa Nag, MCC health officer D.G. Nagaraj, who attended the wedding, also administered an oath and issued a green wedding certificate (Hasiru Vivaha Pramana Patra) to the newly-wed couple Nischal Mahesh and Pooja Seshadri.
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Ms. Nag, who mooted the concept of green wedding, said utmost care is taken to avoid the usage of plastic in any situation and the thrust is on waste reduction. “Usually, plastic usage and waste generation is high in weddings. But this is minimised to a large extent in green weddings and a certificate is also issued to vouch for it,” she added.
Ms. Nag said a green team is being constituted by the MCC to certify a wedding as green wedding and it will help guide the families regarding the protocol to be adopted to qualify for the same. “An awareness drive will also be launched to bring florists under its ambit as they tend to use plastic instead of organic materials while preparing bouquets,” she said.
Dr. Nagaraj said there are nearly 182 wedding halls and choultries in the city, which constitute bulk waste generators. The combined waste generated by these wedding halls and choultries have been pegged at around 250 tonnes per day, including the processes involved in their manufacture all of which adds to the garbage output in the city. Green wedding is a step forward to reduce such bulk waste generation and would be promoted by creating awareness among wedding hall managers, who in turn have to communicate the same to the clients. “A meeting with wedding hall and choultry owners and managers will be held in due course to take forward the concept,” said Dr. Nagaraj.
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