Kulhad wali chai in place of plastic tea cups, fresh flower decorations in place of plastic flowers, eco-friendly paper signages and cutlery and other plastic-free alternatives - weddings and other ceremonies nowadays showcase zero-waste practices. Citizens are extremely conscious of the impact of plastic on the environment. As urban India moves towards garbage-free cities, the principles of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (RRR) are at the forefront of swachh habits. Waste segregation, home composting, alternatives of single-use plastic, use of biodegradable products among other practices strengthen the principles of 3 R. Cities have been conducting various awareness programs to popularise and promote best practices to achieve the goal of zero-waste, ensuring large-scale public participation and community mobilization.

Zero-waste events are the most in thing that cities are catching up to. The approach is to minimize the amount of waste being generated, utilize maximum reusable materials and recycle to create the best out of waste. Weddings, parties, community meetings and other social/public gatherings often end up with piles of garbage that contain hazardous materials like single-use plastic etc. To help alleviate this hazard, several ULBs across the country have come up with unique and innovative schemes to invite large-scale public participation in making cities garbage free.

During Zero-Waste Events, many cities are now encouraging paper instead of plastic or flex for banners and standees, use of biodegradable or recyclable crockery, fresh flowers for event decoration to discourage piles of garbage. Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) decided to offer 25% rebate on the charges of event venues if the organizers conducted a zero-waste event. Meanwhile, Patna Municipal Corporation set an example by making popular events like Saras Mela, a zero-waste event that involved onsite composting. PMC is offering 10% rebate in booking amount for the community halls for organising a zero-waste event.

Meticulously executing its plans for encouraging its citizens, Chandigarh MC rolled out a replicable and scalable zero-waste wedding scheme, offering a 20% subsidy on booking amount of the venue.

Zero-Waste weddings and parties in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur saw use of Dona-pattal (leaf-plates) for serving food. Following Chandigarh, Patna and Navi Mumbai, NMC decided to offer a 5% discount on zero-waste events held at community halls falling under its aegis. Not just this, the organisers are also asked to pledge for not using single-use plastic. Organisers of such events can also rent utensils from the Didi Bartan Bank, thus inevitably cutting down on waste. The hosts are made to fill up a Shapath-Patra to ensure a zero-waste event. Meanwhile, the Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation of Andhra Pradesh has also joined the bandwagon by giving a 50% discount on user-fee on solid waste too.

Citizens are not only encouraged for partnership by offering incentives for zero-waste events but this is also motivating them to undertake waste management and source segregation on their own. Articulating its plans on this principle, the Pune Municipal Corporation has been encouraging on-site composting for residential properties since 2010. PMC has been providing a rebate of 5% for individual property owners who undertake any two of the three environment friendly initiatives on their own– installing solar water heaters, on- site composting or rain water harvesting. Similarly, Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur offers and disburses discounts to Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) motivating them to manage and process wet waste on-site.