From paper to wood to book this year Goan celebrate Christmas the eco-friendly way

This year Goans are taking a different route and creating eco-friendly Christmas trees. John D’Souza, from Raia made a Christmas tree in which he used the parasite that grows on mango trees – called bendur. “Every year I think of making something innovative and different from the rest, this year I got the idea of making a Christmas tree with bendur- which is a parasite that grows on mango trees. I assembled it and painted it in white. The pieces of wood are attached to each other by wire to a pole. It all took me around 15-20 days to complete,” says John.

Gaurav Pokle, who organises many garbage clean-ups drives made a Christmas tree out of waste cardboard. The pieces of cardboard are painted in green and are decorated with streamer and decorative lights.

“We love all religions,

culture

and people and love to read, so we decided that this time the Christmas tree will be made of

books

,” says Akiyala Dessai who was helped by her siblings Hrishi and Rachi Dessai from Succor, Porvorim.

For Mathew Dias, from Divar, his Christmas tree takes almost a month to get ready. “I start in November to make my Christmas tree. Since I use crepe

paper

, I have to be very careful. I have made almost a 6 feet tall Christmas tree. I believe in sustainable living.”