Paryavaran Mitra Eco Holi Campaign

(27th February – 8th March 2012)

‘Har Paryavaran Mitra ka Wada, Is Holi Lakdi aur pani ka upyog Hoga adha’

Holi, the festival of colours is celebrated every year with great enthusiasm and during this
festival, we knowingly or unknowingly damage our environment, and the natural resources.
Water wastage, chemical colors harming the skin, tyres and polythenes burnt in the Holika fires,
throwing balloons and polythene packs filled with water has become common. Apart from
impacting our health, the use of chemical colours gets mixed with the soil thus harming the
localbiodiversity.
To make people aware about such issues and impacts and to promote Eco – friendly Holi,
Paryavaran Mitra launched the Safe Holi Campaign on 27th February 2012 providing schools an
opportunity to choose the best way to celebrate making the festival Safe, Eco-Friendly and
Sustainable. As a strategy for the campaign, schools and general public were provided with
downloadable educational materials such as presentation on Eco-Holi, poster and banner designs
and addresses from where one can purchase herbal colours. These materials were available in
both hindi and english at Paryavaran Mitra website. Many schools made use of these
presentations and resources to create awareness among the Schools and general masses.

9500 Students and teachers across the country joined this campaign and their individual efforts
helped in saving more than 68,000 ltrs. of water as these people made their own herbal colours or
purchased it from the manufacturers and played with it, which minimized the use of water
required to remove the harmful chemical colours. Thus this campaign resulted in participants
making approximately 110 kgs of Herbal colours and more than 120 ltrs. of liquid herbal
colours. The campaign also motivated members to use less firewood for holika fires and thus this
campaign helped in saving more than 3 tons of fuel wood. This is the recorded impact of the
campaign. The latent and rolling effects of the campaign have been tremendous and we believe
that the entire process would have triggered thousand other citizens to play Eco and safe Holi.

To see how these young friends of environment left their colourful Hand Print, take a glance at
the Holi moments in schools across the country
 In Maharashtra, six Paryavaran Mitra schools from Nagpur
region viz. M.P. Deo Smriti Lokanchi Shala & Jr. College,
Siddheshwar Vidyalaya, Surendragad NMC High School,
Seminary Hills, Bhide Girls High School, Shree Rajendra
High School and General Awari High. School participated in
Holi campaign under guidance of Prof. Vijay Ghugey of
Nisarg Vidnyan Mandal(NiViM). Here the schools were made
aware about playing Eco-Holi. Schools also prepared their
Students of Surendra gad N.M.C.  natural colours and used it for playing with colours.
Nagpur with the natural colours they 
d

In order to create awareness in the community, students also took out rally and urged people to play
Safe and Eco Holi.

No of students participated – 1500

Teachers – 30
Herbal colours made by students – 48 Kg
Water Savings – 22000 L
Wood Savings- 3 tons

Similarly S. J. Vidyalaya, Daund, Pune participated in the campaign by sensitizing their school
students to celebrate Eco-Holi.
No of students participated- 57
Herbal colours made by students – 6 Kg
Water Savings – 500 L
Fuel wood savings – 30 Kg
 In Delhi, Students of DAV Pushpanjali Enclave celebrated
Holi by playing with natural colours which they made in their
homes. The school also took initiative and circulated a
circular among students and parents encouraging them to
celebrate Eco-Holi.

Students of GD Salwan Public School organized a special

assembly to deliver a strong message and to create awareness
regarding the importance of playing eco friendly Holi. Students of DAV Pushpanjali Enclave, 
showing their colourful HandPrint 

In Haryana, students of Tamarind Eco-Club, Govt. Sr. Sec. School

Alahar played Holi with colours that they made themselves from
fallen flowers like Palash and natural substances like turmeric. With
the help of their Science teacher Mr. Darshan Lal, students made
colours from flowers of Tesu, Haldi, Mehndi, Indigo, Flowers of
Gudhal, Beetroot, Chandan.

No. of students participated- 40

Students with colours they prepared 
No. of teachers – 7
from natural substances 

Natural colours made – 5 Kg gulal, 40 ltrs (Tesu)40 ltrs (Geru)

40 ltrs (Haldi), 40 ltrs (Rakt Chandan)
Henna paste- 1 kg
Through Discussions and presentations awareness was also created among students to play safe and
Herbal holi and to use less water and fuel wood for Holika.

In Assam, team members from North East Regional Office of CEE,

members of the CARBON - group of youth engaged in
sustainability issues, and a partner NGO of CEE, Kalpadroom
Foundation went to five schools in 2 districts of Assam to create
awareness on Eco-Holi. In all these five schools, Students were
made aware of harmful impacts of chemical colours on health and
environment and were also taught to make their own herbal colours
from organic stuff. After making the herbal colours, students played
CEE NE  resource person showing 
with the prepared organic colours. These schools are preparation of herbal colours to students 
Samaria M. E. school, Samaria,

Rupnagar Vidyapeeth M. E. school, Guwahati,

Uzan Bazaar Government Girls High School, Guwahati,

Lalsing Academy, Guwahati.

No. of Students participated – 774

No. of teachers – 53

In Bihar, P.N Anglo School organized Human Chain and Rally on 5th March 2012. Around 100
students and 10-12 teachers participated in the rally and took pledge to play Safe and herbal Holi. High
School, Arrah, Bhojpur on 6th March 2012, organized an open seminar for students, teachers and
community people to create awareness on Eco-Holi. More than 120 Students, Teachers and parents
attended this Seminar. Students also took a pledge to play Eco-Holi.

To make community people and the villagers aware about the harms from chemical colors, Students of
Shri G.D. Patliputra School, Patna under the guidance of NGC Master Trainer Dr. Sharwan Kumar
carried out an Anti- Chemical Color Cycle Rally from Patna to Vaishali. “Holika Jalao Kachara
Bachao” with this slogan the students worked in their own mohallah to protect the Holika from burning
of tyres and other polythene materials.

Similarly schools from West Champaran participated in this campaign. They organized rallies, door to
door campaign, and interactive discussions to motivate students, teachers and community people to play
Eco-Holi. These schools also purchased 20 kgs of herbal colours and distributed among students,
encouraging them to play holi with herbal colours.

In St. Columbus High School,

No. of students participated – 450

No. of teachers- 15

Herbal colours prepared – 10 Kg by 40 students

Water savings – 30,000 L ( 200 students saved 150 L each)

In K R High School, Bettiah,

No of students participated – 1000

Herbal colour prepared – 2 Kg

Herbal colour used – 15 Kg distributed to students

In Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya, Jogapatti,

No of students - 600 students

Water savings – 8000 L ( each student saved 2 buckets of water (20 ltrs))

From Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya, Padri, Sarvoday Madhya Vidyalaya

Jyoti Gyan Bharti School and Amwa Majhar High School, Madhaulia,W. Champaran, 250 students
joined the campaign by playing with natural colours.

In Punjab Army Public School, Tibri organized special assemblies to create

awareness and students were also provided with Herbal colours. Similarly Play-
way High School, Patiala encouraged their school students to make their own
herbal colours and to play holi in the traditional way. Students of the St. John’s
High School from Chandigarh were encouraged by their teachers to play a safe
Holi with herbal colours which are non toxic. In the art classes, our
students used their imagination and creativity to draw Holi scenes
and give their own slogans.

St. John's High School 
students celebrating 
safe Tilak Holi 

In Rajasthan, Students of Govt. Universal Public School, Jaipur

played Tilak Holi using natural colours in an attempt to conserve
water. On the day of Holi, students used Natural Herbal Colours in
place of chemical colours. A Rally was also carried out in nearby
villages. Similarly Bhartiya Public School from Sikar participated
in this campaign by playing “Nirmal Holi" to conserve water.
Traditional customs as folk songs-Rasia from Shekhawati area and
others from Braj area were also promoted. Students of
Students of Bharatiya Public  School 
playing Holi with fallen flower petals 
Modi Public school and MIMT from Kota took oath

not to play with chemical colours and to play Eco-Holi. Students of the school also took pledge to
reduce use of water so as to save and conserve the air, water and soil from pollution.
 In Bilaspur, Chattisgarh, Nature Bodies a
youth group working for the cause of
Environment and students of Bharat Mata
High School, Chattisgarh joined this
campaign, making the festival of holi better,
safer & cleaner. They termed their campaign as
“Holi ke Rang Prakriti ke Sang” and conducted
many awareness programmes in their 3 days
campaign. They carried out activities such as
Signature Campaign by Nature Bodies students story writing competition, where students
wrote many stories about ways to celebrate Eco-Holi. During the campaign, methods to prepare
own natural colours were also shared with students and many students did try preparing their own
Herbal colours. The group also carried out a Signature Campaign where students and community
people took pledge for playing water less holi.

In Madhya Pradesh,

St. Paul’ English Medium Higher secondary School,

Hoshangabad took initiative in organizing an interactive
discussion on Safe and Eco Holi. More than 200 school
children and teachers participated in the lecture on Eco
friendly Holi celebration. Making natural colours from
Flowers and other organic products were also demonstrated
among students. Similarly another interactive discussion
CEE resource person demonstrating natural 
under "Safe Festival Campaign" was organized by colour preparation at  St. Paul's English   Medium, 
h b d
Eco Club In-charge at Govt. Naveen Hr.Sec. School, Arera Colony. The lecture briefed students to
celebrate holi festival in eco friendly manner and to reduce water consumption with eco colours.
Students also take pledge for playing "Sukhi-Holi" or "Abir Holi".

MANSI organization, Panna Distt. Madhya Pradesh appealed the people to use less water during
this Holi. The Organization distributed pamphlets and organized campaigns in different schools and
in civil societies. The result and impact has been tremendous. MANSI team also approached
schools and oriented students and teachers to avoid the misuse of the water and colors, this Holi.
They organized a camp in local market and distributed pamphlets to create awareness on Eco Holi.
The team also approached the Bar-Association and created awareness among the advocates not to
use much water and Chemical Colours in this festival.
In Andhra Pradesh, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavans Atmakuri Rama Rao School, Hyderabad
participated in the campaign under the banner of 'Holi ke din Rang barse, Phir hum Paani ko
tarse.' The School celebrated the festival by having an awareness discussion programme in the
morning assembly. The Eco Club members of the school presented an awareness programme that
educated children on the perils of celebrating holi with chemicals. They exhorted the students to
celebrate holi in the manner that Radha Rani celebrated in braj thus bringing out the cultural
aspect of the festival. The School also displayed website address and the name of the shop where
natural colours are sold on the school notice-board.

In Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Govt. High School,

Dokmardi promoted the Safe Holi Campaign in their
School. Around 120 students participated in this
campaign. Students were made aware about safe and eco
friendly festival celebration. Some other activities like
rally in the community, Personal discussion with local
people regarding safe Holi celebration, drawing
competition on Eco friendly Holi Celebration and oath
by students for playing safe holi to save water & Students of Govt. High School, 
environment were also conducted with the school. Dokmardi rallying for Safe Holi 

In Gujarat, Teachers and students of Sheth V.D.

High School, Bhuj celebrated Tilak Holi, with the
message of not only to save water but that the efforts
will also save all from the side effects of artificial
colour. Teachers also gave inputs to make natural
colours made from Vegetables like beetroot and
flowers like kesuda.

Students of Shree Kadvibai Virani Kanya

Students of Shree Kadvibai Virani Vidalaya 
spreading awareness about safe Holi 
Vidyalaya, Rajkot, prepared handouts

and flyer explaining the harms caused by Chemical colors with the following information. 131
girls have already submitted their plan to have a safe Holi and to play with Herbal Colours.
In Uttar Pradesh,

St. Xavier’s Convent School, Lucknow organized an awareness campaign on the occasion of Holi
named as “Rainbow Rhythm”. Every student of St. Xavier’s Convent pledged to convince at least
two people in her / his vicinity to play holi with herbal colours and without water. After the
campaign students gathered in the school ground and played holi.

T.D Girls Inter-college organized an interactive discussion for their student which was attended by
around 50 students. The school also purchased 5 kgs of herbal colours and distributed among the
students to encourage them to make and use herbal colours. The manager of the school also created
awareness on Eco-Holi in their Annual Day celebration.

Awareness was also created among the students of Divya Shikha Academy School. Around 45
Students participated in the campaign. The school also purchased 3 kgs of Herbal colours and
distributed it among the Students. Here making pichkaris from used bottles was also demonstrated
among the students. Students liked the idea of making pichkaris and majority of them promised to
make their own pichkaris.

Similarly, an interactive session was organized at Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Takhroi, Lucknow in
the school campus where students were briefed about Eco-Holi campaign where students were made
aware about the traditional method of celebrating Holi.
No. of students participated – 55
No. of teachers - 6
CEE team also demonstrated how to make pichkaris from used water bottles. Students liked this
simple concept and later most of them tried making their own pichkaris instead of buying from the
market. After the discussion, students played dry Holi with each other.

In West Bengal, Kamarpara School, Hooghly students organized a

small programme in the prayer assembly. Benefits of using herbal
colours and less water was told to the students. Some banners urging
people to celebrate the festival in a safe manner was displayed in the
school.

Banners displayed by students of 
Kamarpara School  
Unique way to celebrate the festival of colours: The beginning

Through this campaign, CEE aimed to make people aware about the ill effects and impacts of
playing Holi in an irrational manner. This campaign mainly targeted the students and the Youth
because they are the potential change agents. The outcomes have been positive and encouraging.
The awareness created to make or purchase herbal colours and to make pichkaris from used
bottles in a simple way encouraged students and teachers to play eco Holi. This campaign in
itself has been a great experiential learning for the students with a high element of fun and
satisfaction where the campaign took students from awareness to education thereby bringing
about attitudinal and behavioral changes among the students. The intensity of this campaign will
increase tremendously in coming years and we hope that our dear festival Holi, will become
hundred percent Eco-Holi filling our lives with colours of joy and happiness.

List of Schools who were part of the Campaign

Sr. No. School

1 Sheth V. D. High School
Bhuj, Gujarat
2 Shree Kadvibai Virani Kanya Vidyalay, Rajkot
Gujarat
3 Cosmos Castle International School, Ahmedabad
Gujarat
4 Asia English School
Ahmedabad
Gujarat
5 Laxman Gyanpith, Godhavi, Ahmedabad
Gujarat
6 Shrimati Kadvibai Virani Vidhyalaya, Rajkot
Gujarat
7 Govt. High school, Dokmaradi,
Dadara & Nagar Haveli
8 Govt. Higher Secondary School, Khanvel,
Dadara & Nagar Haveli
9 Father Agnaio English School, Silvasa, Dadara & Nagar Haveli
10 Govt. High School, Dapada, Dadara & Nagar Haveli
11 Govt. High School, Patlara, Daman
12 Govt. Primary School, Thanapardi, Daman
13 Bhartiya Public School,
Reengus, Sikar
Rajasthan
14 GUPS Jairajpura
Sanganer, Jaipur
Rajasthan
15 MIMT,
Kota Rajasthan
16 Govt Jain Gurkul Hr Sec School Beawar
Rajasthan
17 Modi Public school
Kota, Rajasthan
18 T.D. Girls Inter College,
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
19 Divya Shikha Gyanpeeth
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh
20 Prassana Ghosh
Anglo Bengali Inter College
Allahabad
Uttar Pradesh
21 Bishop Mandal Inter College
Bareily
Uttar Pradesh
22 St. Xaviers School
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
Uttar Pradesh
23 Saraswati Shishu Mandir,
Lucknow
24 Sarvoday Madhya Vidyalaya,
W. Champaran
Bihar
25 St. Columbus High School, Bettiah, West Champaran
Bihar
26 K.R High School
Bettiah, West Champaran
Bihar
27 Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya, Jogapatti
West Champaran
Bihar
28 Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya, Padri
Bissaiyan, W. Champaran, Bihar
29 Amwa Majhar High School, Madhaulia
W. Champaran
30 Jyoti Gyan Bharti School
W. Champaran
31 P.N Anglo Sanskrit High School, Patna, Bihar
32 Sri G.D Patliputra Inter College
Kadamkuan
Patna, Bihar
33 Town+2 School,
 Ara, Bhojpur
Bihar
34 Nature Bodies
Bilaspur
Chhattisgarh
35 Play-way High School
Patiala
Punjab
36 Army Public School, Tibri
Punjab
37 S. J. Vidyalaya, Daund, Pune
Maharashtra
38 M.P. Deo Smriti Lokanchi Shala & Jr. College, Nagpur
Maharashtra
39 Siddheshwar Vidyalaya, Nagpur
Maharashtra
40 Surendragad NMC High School, Nagpur
Maharashtra
41 Bhide Girls High School,
Nagpur Maharashtra
42 Shree Rajendra High School
Nagpur
Maharashtra
43 General Awari High School
Nagpur Maharashtra
44 Govt. Sr. Sec. School Alahar, Yamuna Nagar
Haryana
45 DAV Public School Pushpanjali Enclave
Pitam Pura, Delhi
46 GD Salwan Public School
New Delhi
47 Samaria M. E. school, Samaria, Guwahati,
Assam
48 Chamaria Govt. Senior Basic School
Assam
49 Uzan Bazaar Government Girls High School,
Assam
50 Lalsing Academy, Guwahati.
Assam
51 RupnagarVidyapeeth M.E School
Guwahati
Assam
52 Govt. Naveen Higher Secondary School, Arera Colony, Bhopal, M.P.

53 St. Paul’ Secondary School, Hoshangabad

M.P.
54 MANSI, Distt. Panna
M.P.
55 Bhartiya Vidya Bhavans Atmakuri Rama Rao School
Hyderabad
56 Midnapore Town School
Dist.- Paschim Medinipur,
West Bengal
57 Kamarpara School
Hooghly
West Bengal