Mangaluru: In a move to promote eco-friendly celebrations, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has introduced an initiative to honour newly married couples who adopt zero-waste principles during their wedding ceremonies.As part of the initiative, MCC officials will assess such events and present couples with a certificate of appreciation if their weddings are conducted without the use of plastic cups, plates, or plastic decorative materials and with a strong emphasis on sustainability. A couple from Vamanjoor received the MCC appreciation certificate for hosting a zero-waste wedding on Monday. MCC commissioner Ravichandra Naik attended the wedding and handed over the certificate to the couple, Veerendar and Suraksha, who entered wedlock at Rajatadri auditorium in Vamanjoor.Environmentalist Jayaprakash Yekkur said that Veerendra, an engineer, and Suraksha, a teacher, wanted to make their wedding ceremony a green memory in their life. “While all arrangements were made for a zero-waste wedding ceremony, I invited the MCC commissioner. As a responsible official, the commissioner attended the wedding, blessed the couple, and handed over the certificate,” he said.No plastic bottles were used to distribute drinking water to guests at the eco-friendly wedding ceremony. Instead, all guests were served water and welcome drinks in steel tumblers. No tissue papers were distributed during the programme since trees are cut down while manufacturing them. Ice cream was served in cups made of arecanut sheets. The stage was decorated with flowers and eco-friendly reusable decorative materials. Banners creating awareness on the significance of eco-friendly events were displayed at the venue, he said.Many couples in the coastal districts have held such simple weddings, giving priority to zero waste in the past. Artist Dinesh Holla and many other environmentalists participated in the zero-waste wedding ceremony of the couple and blessed them. Artist Holla also contributed many eco-friendly decorative materials with strong messages on the importance of nature written on them, he added.
