Nature friendly ganesh mahotsahva

Return to the traditional use of natural clay icons and immerse the icon in a bucket of water at home.
Use of a permanent icon made of stone and brass, used every year and a symbolic immersion only.
Recycling of plaster icons to repaint them and use them again the following year.
Ban on the immersion of plaster icons into lakes, rivers and the sea.
Creative use of other biodegradable materials such as paper mache to create Ganesh icons.
Encouraging people to immerse the icons in tanks of water rather than in natural water bodies.
To handle religious sentiments sensitively, some temples and spiritual groups have also taken up the cause.