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Solar power use in Langar cooking hailed
LONDON: Sikhs in India have taken the
first steps in reducing the use of fossil fuels in their 28,000
gurdwaras, or temples.Each gurdwara runs a free kitchen where anyone
can be fed,
regardless of creed, race or need.
The Sikh community gives food to about 30 million people a day, with
the five great gurdwaras of Delhi feeding more than 10,000 people
daily. The new initiative will see solar power installed at Delhi's
eight biggest gurdwaras to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used for
heating, lighting and cooking. Fuel-efficient cooking stoves will
then be installed in rural gurdwaras to reduce energy consumption by
15 per cent. A unique eco-coffin project in South Africa aims to
help rid the country of invasive tree species while also lending a
hand to poor people faced with high burial costs.
South Africa has a big problem with invasive trees such as pines and
wattles which are draining the land of scarce water resources.
At the same time South Africa's high level of HIV is causing real
financial hardship to families, who have to deal with unprecedented
numbers of funerals.
The plan is to make coffins out of the timber of these species,
selling some at cost to poor people through churches and Hindu
temples, and the rest at a higher prices to wealthier families to
help support the initiative. Five years ago, two Colombian species -
the yellow-eared parrot and the Quindio wax palm - were on the verge
of extinction. But, thanks to a partnership between the Roman
Catholic church and environmentalists, both have been saved in one
of Latin America's most successful biodiversity conservation
campaigns.
(CourtesyWestern Daily Press; arcworld.com )
15 August, 2007
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