Plants and Trees also need darkness

How Light Pollution Is Affecting Plants in India

Light pollution — the excessive or misdirected artificial light at night — is often considered mainly an issue for astronomers and urban dwellers who can no longer see the stars. However, its impacts run far deeper, extending into the natural world and significantly affecting plants, ecosystems and even agriculture across India.

What Is Light Pollution?

Light pollution occurs when artificial lighting from streetlights, buildings, vehicles and decorative installations brightens the night sky and alters natural light–dark cycles. It changes three key characteristics of environmental light:

• Quantity (how much light)
• Quality (wavelength or color of light)
• Duration (how long light is present)

These disruptions can interfere with biological processes that plants have evolved to depend on.

Disruption of Natural Rhythms

Plants rely on predictable patterns of daylight and darkness to regulate growth, reproduction and seasonal changes. This photoperiodism — the plant’s ability to sense day length — governs critical functions such as leaf drop, bud dormancy, flowering and seed production. Artificial lighting at night confuses this internal clock, upsetting growth cycles and plant development.

For example:

• Plants that require long nights to trigger flowering may fail to bloom if nights are artificially illuminated
• Leaf shedding and bud awakening can occur at the wrong time, increasing vulnerability to frost and pathogens

These changes can weaken plant health and resilience.

Effects on Growth and Reproduction

Studies have shown that artificial light affects the physiology of both wild and cultivated plants outside their natural cycles. In urban and agricultural settings:

• Delayed or altered leaf growth — In some regions, leaves remain on plants longer into autumn and sprout earlier in spring under artificial lighting, exposing them to environmental stress
• Reduced flowering and yields — Crops such as maize and soy have been observed to grow vegetatively under artificial night lighting but produce fewer flowers, which directly affects fruit and seed yields

Ripple Effects Through Pollination

Plants do not exist in isolation — they depend on insects and animals for pollination. Light pollution disrupts nocturnal pollinators such as moths, bats and beetles, altering their navigation, feeding and activity patterns. When these pollinators are less active or diverted by artificial light, flower visitation declines significantly, leading to lower fruit set and reproduction in night-blooming plants. 

This effect is particularly worrying in regions where agriculture and biodiversity rely on efficient pollination services. When pollination declines, crop yields and ecosystem health can both suffer.

Physiological Stress on Trees and Urban Flora

Emerging research highlights another consequence: artificial night light can cause trees and other plants to invest more in defense mechanisms at the expense of growth. For example:

• Leaf Toughening — Studies show that light pollution can make leaves tougher and change their nutrient profiles, reducing herbivory by insects but disrupting food webs and ecological interactions in urban environments
  
  Urban trees, often continually exposed to light from street lamps and decorative lighting, may thus face physiological stress that affects not only their own health but also the insects and wildlife that depend on them

Agricultural Concerns

Beyond urban environments, light pollution can affect crop physiology and productivity:

• Excessive light at night influences the plant’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that regulates photosynthesis, growth and flowering. Disrupting this rhythm can lead to physiological stress, stunted development and reduced yields

• Interference with nocturnal pollinators — especially for crops that bloom at night — can further impede reproduction and harvest outcomes

These impacts compound existing agricultural challenges, posing a broader concern for food security and sustainable farming in India.

Looking Forward

While awareness of light pollution is growing globally and within India, policy responses and mitigation strategies are still limited. Conservation guidelines now stress the need for evaluating the environmental impact of artificial light sources, especially near natural habitats. 

The News Minute

Potential steps to mitigate plant-related impacts include:

• Using lights that minimize upward and sideways spill (dark-sky friendly fixtures)
• Reducing intensity and duration of nighttime lighting
• Choosing warmer light spectra (red or yellow hues) less disruptive to ecological processes
• Shielding and directing lights to reduce stray illumination into natural areas

Conclusion

Light pollution is more than an urban nuisance — it is an ecological stressor with real consequences for plant growth, reproduction, pollination and ecosystem health in India. By altering natural light patterns and disrupting biological processes, artificial night light is reshaping plant communities and the environments that depend on them.

Addressing this emerging challenge requires both public awareness and policy action to balance human lighting needs with the preservation of natural rhythms that sustain life.

Sources: Down to Earth | Mongabay | Asian Journal | Kissan of India | The News Minute

Rangoli designs - Please dont use glitters

In any Hindu family, putting Rangoli in front of the house or making huge decorative Rangoli during festivals is a common practice. Even when some auspicious Pooje is performed at home, its common for the priest to create mandala rangoli and special rangoli around the homa kund and other practices. Traditionally Rangolis are made from the following materials: Rice flour, White stone powder, Kumkum, Turmeric, flower petals, red sand etc. Most of these materials are eco-friendly and doesnt cause much harm to environment.

But now in recent years, people have started using glitters in our traditional practice of making rangolis. Although these Rangolis looks vibrant and colorful with these glitter powders, but later when these rangolis are washed away or disposed, they harm the soil or water with harmful micro-plastics. 

Glitters are typically made from plastic and aluminum to create thin, reflective sheets that are cut into small pieces. These glitter powder often contains polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which causes it to break into microplastics and can pollute aquatic habitats or the fertility of the soil. 

Understanding the harmful nature of these glitters, it becomes our responsibility of not using Glitters in our religious practices.

New Ayurvedic Soap from Gaukalyan Soap, Udupi, Karnataka

Very recently in one of the weekends, I got an opportunity to visit the famous Krishna Matta in Udupi district, Karnataka. Though my visit is not new, what caught my attention was this ayurvedic soap and incense sticks that was kept for sale inside the temple complex.

This stall was set by Gau Kalyan, a Gaushala which makes Dhoop(incense), soaps and other Ayurvedic products. My interest was specifically in Dhoopa, but along with it I purchased two Gaukalyan Soap.

It's been only two days since I used this soap, I must say the experience is something unique. The soap is soft, dark in colour, has a little scrubbing texture and smells amazing. 

In terms of smell, it felt something like these Ayurvedic medicine such as 'Arishtas'.

Below is the ingredients of the soap:

• Virgin coconut oil 
• Coconut oil
• Green gram 
• Coconut cake
• Turmeric 
• Panchagavya Kachooram
• Nannali
• Thakolam and 
• Chittolam etc .

On the Gaukalyan Soap product cover, they have mentioned the benefits of using this unique soap. The benefits are as follows:

• Preventing Dandruff 
• Black Acne
• Blackening
• Allergies
• Scars
• Scabies & Fungal Diseases

The manufacturer claims it's unique formula enhances color of skin and natural protection. It's antioxidant action prevents pigmentation, uneven skin tone and marks.

Gaukalyan Soap

Below is the address and contact details of the manufacturer:

Gau Kalyan, Desi Cow(dwarf) gaushala, Shirva, Udupi-574116.

Ph No.: +917090510055
Email: gaukalyan@yahoo.com
Instagram: gaukalyanofficial
Facebook: Gaukalyan

Being Vegetarian

Hi, I am aged about 46 years and its been more than 15 years now, I have stopped eating chicken and fish. I still used to eat egg, but very less. I did feel better in terms of my health after I stopped eating non-veg. But more than the health aspect, I always use to wonder about the resources required to produce meat. 

In order to feed livestock, one needs to grow more green fodder and in turn the usage of land increases. 
This though led me to search more articles about the land usage for meat production. Following are some articles which i found on the internet. 

Please go through these articles, it may change your mindset to eat less non-veg and move towards being vegetarian.

Articles:

1. A 2023 study published in Nature Food found that a vegan diet vastly decreases the impact on the environment from food production, such as reducing emissions, water pollution and land use by 75%, reducing the destruction of wildlife by 66% and the usage of water by 54%.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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Stop concrete around trees!

In urban areas of India, Its common to see people put concrete around trees with out leaving space for the trees to grow. In front of many homes, we see the trees on sidewalk have been filled with heavy concrete. This makes it absolutely suffocating for the trees. Also the tree is not able to absorb water into the soil due to these concrete filling. 

Its time people care for trees and maintain sufficient space around the tree. At least a good 1 feet of space around the tree should help the tree grow peacefully and also will not damage the concrete sidewalks. Its a win win for both owners and for the trees. By maintaining space, the trees will not create cracks in the concrete sidewalks. 

Why blame Ganesha ?

Every year Indian's suddenly become conscious of water pollution. Yes! it’s that time (Aug/Sep) of the year in India, when every body becomes aware not to pollute water bodies, lakes or rivers by immersion of Ganesha idols! 

But why only Ganesha?  Is only Ganesha responsible for water pollution?

But what about us -Humans? We pollute these water bodies all 365 days a year. At home we use a wide array of polluters such as Tooth paste, bath soaps, detergent soaps, shampoo's, harmful toilet cleaners, floor cleaners, bleaching powders, phenyl etc.  Just imagine a Billion plus people doing this on a daily basis in India. How can we control such mass amounts of pollutants going into our water bodies? 

If domestic pollution is one concern, Industrial pollution is another major contributor of water pollution. Above all, we dont have of the best of water management systems to tackle this ever growing problem.

"The best way to clean the polluted water is not to clean the polluted water but to stop polluting."
- conserve energy future 

Coming to immersion of Ganesha Idols, a lot has changed over the past decade and lot of care is taken in selecting eco-friendly idols and facilitating dedicated tanks for immersion. But the though I am trying to bring across is, people highlight and take care about water pollution during the Ganesha festival time and forget how much they are polluting water bodies the entire year.

Share what you think about this article and post your thoughts in the comments section below.
Also there are some interesting reads in the links below. Kindly explore!

What can we do?

• 30+ Simple and Easy Ways to Reduce Water Pollution That Nobody Would Tell You... Read More
  
  
• How to reuse waste water from your RO filter?
  Bengaluru resident Prabhat Vijayan has made a simple system to reuse the discharge water from his RO water purifier at home... Read More
  
  

Who is doing what?

On the brighter side, there are many organizations, who are working towards making our world a better place. Below are some links to stories of change:

• 5 Innovations By Indians That Curb Water Pollution!
  Conscious citizens across India are making attempts at the local and national level to prevent water pollution, revive the polluted water bodies and thereby eradicate water-related diseases... Read More
  
  
• Keeping rivers and lakes clean is the duty of every citizen
  as they are the source of our drinking water and food production... Read More
  
  
• Not only does water pollution result in contaminated water, but it also hurts the wildlife that depends on safe water for survival... Read More
  
  
• 30+ Simple and Easy Ways
  to Reduce Water Pollution That Nobody Would Tell You... Read More
  
  
• Cleaning rivers from plastic pollution with bubbles
  Our Bubble Barrier catches plastic over the fu­ll width and depth of rivers and prevents plastic from ending up in the ocean. The system does not interfere with regular river activities and is operational 24/7... Read More
  
  
• WE DEVELOP AND SCALE TECHNOLOGIES TO RID THE OCEANS OF PLASTIC
  Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans, of which the majority spills out from rivers. A portion of this plastic travels to ocean garbage patches, getting caught in a vortex of circulating currents. If no action is taken, the plastic will increasingly impact our ecosystems, health, and economies... Read More
  
  
• Ayurvedic Alternatives
  Check some alternatives for shampoos and toothpastes: Read More

Biodegradable Sanitary Pads

 With the ever-growing population, the demand for basic necessities keeps growing. At the same time, our day-to-day needs also impact our environment. One such product is "Sanitary Pads". Most of the sanitary pads available in the market are 90% plastic and does not degrade in soil for over 500 years. This only adds to the huge landfill problem we are already facing. But hope is on our side. Thanks to many entrepreneurs and the research community, things are changing for the better. Here is a list of eco-friendly sanitary pads:

• Sanitary pads made from Banana fiber
  The surat-based couple is making sanitary pads using banana fiber. Conventional pads contain plastics, synthetic fibers, artificial fragrances, deodorants, dyes, and many other harsh chemicals that may be harmful to your health. Made with banana fiber, bamboo fiber, and corn starch, Sparkle pads do not contain harmful chemicals that may cause rashes, irritation, infections or UTIs.
  
  
• Biodegradable & Compostable from Saathi
  Saathi pads are Biodegradable & Compostable, using plant-based materials for the leak-proof outer layers of the napkin.
  
  
• Cotton and Bamboo pulp
  100% organic cotton, biodegradable sanitary pads from PEESAFE
  
  
• Cloth pad from EcoFemme
  Cloth pads are made of cotton & promote well-being through the menstrual cycle, as well as being affordable & beautiful too. Cloth pads can prevent thousands of non-biodegradable sanitary waste around the world each month.