14 years of ecofriendly X’mas: Church turns to bamboo this time

While Bengalureans have been adorning the streets with shimmering lights and baubles, the Mar Thoma Church on Primrose Road is celebrating Christmas on a different note.

Over the past 14 years, the church has been celebrating the festival in an eco-friendly manner. The premises is decorated with recycled material such as bottles, old tyres, cartons, shredded paper, straws, and coconut shells.

This year, the church built and decorated its Christmas tree using bamboo strips and compact discs (CDs). The strips were bought from Satish Kumar, a blind basket-maker who sells bamboo decor near Bamboo Bazaar. The CDs were gathered from church members.

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Church members started arranging the decorations in November. “We work towards an environment-friendly and meaningful Christmas. We believe in re-using, re-cycling, and creating from existing sources,” says Daniel Thomas, choir member at the church.

“Buying bamboo from Satish, a bamboo dealer, helps him, as well. He, along with his wife Lakshmi, have been selling bamboo products for a long time. This gesture not only contributes to a social and environmental cause, but also sends out a message to the society to celebrate festivals in a meaningful way.”

The decorations will be in place till New Year’s.