What are ‘green firecrackers’?

A: Green firecrackers — like those the Supreme Court of India recently allowed the residents of New Delhi to burst for two days for Deepavali — are designed to pollute the air less as they burn.

According to the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) team that developed them, these firecrackers emit 30% less particulate matter or, alternatively, emit 20% less particulate matter and 10% less gases — both compared to conventional firecrackers in the same category.