Quick tips on how to have an eco-friendly rakhi

Rakhi is a time for family. Thought the focus is to celebrate siblings it's often a good excuse for the whole family to meet up and bond with the celebrations. During this warm familial holiday, let's not forgot to think of Mother Earth and adopt a few easy habits for her sake.
Buy biodegradable rakhis
Even traditional looking rakhis have plastic beads and many of the kids rakhis are cheap toys glued on plastic strings.Soon they all find their way to a bin and then a landfill. So, how about making sure they don't contribute to plastic pollution. Buy simple strings with no plastic or metal bits. You can even use material lying about at home to hand make recycled-rakhis.
Buy seed rakhis
Rather than buying a rakhi you'd eventually throw, why not get one you can plant? Many different rakhis now contain seeds or come with seed paper cards so that they can flourish into a plant after rakhi.
No plastic containers
Sometimes you aren't in the same city as your brother and you need to post a rakhi. Many websites or rakhi packages send some roli and rice in plastic containers. Though it's traditional and the thought of sending blessings is great, chances are it's never used and hence wasteful. It might be more meaningful to apply the tika to the card and if you're sure your brother will use it then you can send it in a small paper packet.
Don't wrap gifts
Gifting between siblings is one of the best parts of rakhi but gift wrap is bad for the environment. The metallic foil tinted plastic wrap is not biodegradable and though paper is biodegradable, it still comes of trees and wrap is wasteful. If you really want it a surprise, you can either wrap it in a newspaper, which is a fad these days or else try wrapping it in a nice piece of cotton or banarsi cloth which your sister can use too.