New Delhi, 11 November 2023: SOS Children’s Villages India, a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to childcare and child development, on the occassion of Diwali has committed to a clean and green festival this year. The non-profit aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of Diwali celebrations and encourage people and its programme participants to adopt green practices during the festival.
To further engage the public and spread the message of Green Diwali, SOS India has launched an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) meta filter. The filter allows users to virtually experience the joy of Diwali while incorporating eco-friendly elements, such as hand-painted diyas and organic rangoli patterns.
Users can access the AR filter through Instagram and Facebook and share their experiences using the campaign hashtag #GreenDiwaliWithSOS.
Interestingly, while all initiatives are about being future-ready, essentially, it is about going back to our traditional ways of celebrations i.e. using flowers instead of harmful, synthetic colur based rangolis and using hand painted diyas to light up homes instead of LED lights. Not only this, SOS India’s programme participants and partners are all set to plant new saplings as a mark of new beginnings towards a better future.
Sumanta Kar, CEO of SOS Children’s Villages India, “We work with children and it is our most critical endeavour to make them responsible citizens, conscious of their ecological footprint. This Green Diwali is a small step towards sensitising children towards the importance of preservation of our planet and creation of more contextual ways to celebrate festivals. It is important that everyone including our children learn today so that they create a brighther future for themselves and our planet, one diya at a time.“
SOS India is committed to promoting eco-friendly Diwali celebrations by organising a series of hands-on activities for children and communities. These activities aim to encourage the use of natural and sustainable alternatives to traditional Diwali practices, such as creating hand-painted diyas using clay and natural colours instead of LED lights, using flowers and organic colours for rangolis instead of synthetic colours, providing low-smoke or eco-friendly crackers for celebrations, and planting saplings as a symbol of commitment to environmental protection. Through these initiatives, SOS India aims to instil in children a sense of environmental responsibility and empower them to make informed choices that benefit the planet.