Did you turn your lights off?
Recently, the Ontario Khalsa Darbar and the Punjabi Daily newspaper in Mississauga participated in Earth Hour to highlight the issue of climate change.
The Punjabi Daily newspaper from Mississauga has been urging its readers and Sikh
organizations to participate in EARTH HOUR. The Ontario Khalsa Darbar (Dixie Rd. Gurdwara Sahib-Sikh Place of Worship) has prepared for Earth Hour on March 29, a worldwide initiative launched by the WWF, the global conservation organization. It will be lights-off between 8 and 9 p.m. at the Gurdwara, where the hundreds gathered in the congregation will unite and use candles to pray for a cleaner and more peaceful world. “The Sikh Community has always taken a leadership role in protecting our environment. We are proud to participate in Earth Hour, which shows the Sikh communities commitment to protecting the environment, I encourage everyone to join in and turn off their lights for that one hour,” said Sukhminder Singh Hansra, of The Punjabi Daily, a Punjabi newspaper in Mississauga who urged the Sikh community join in using it’s editorials.
Earth Hour was a symbolic gesture to bring attention to the wastage of electricity and climate change. Though climate change is now almost universally accepted as a reality, its effects are often unclear. Some groups that had very little to do with contributing to its causes are already feeling the effects. Meet global warming’s first refugees (according to Sugata Hazra, the director of the School of Oceanography Studies at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University) in the Sundarbans:
Dependra Das stretches out his arms to show his flaky skin, covered in raw saltwater sores.
His fingers submerged in soft black clay for up to six hours a day, he spends his time frantically shoring up a crude sea dyke surrounding his remote island home in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest delta.
Alongside him, across the beach in long lines, the villagers of Ghoramara island, the women dressed in purple, orange and green saris, do the same, trying to hold back the tide.
His fingers submerged in soft black clay for up to six hours a day, he spends his time frantically shoring up a crude sea dyke surrounding his remote island home in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest delta.Every day, from morning to evening, the islanders work on building a dyke and every night, it is breached by rising rivers. Villagers’ thatched huts are made of the same clay as the dykes, and just as easily wiped away.
Lying one-third in India and two-thirds in Bangladesh, the Sundarbans are where two of Asia’s biggest rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, broaden and violently roll into the Bay of Bengal. The source of the problem is 1,500 miles away, at the source of the Ganges, where melting Himalayan glaciers are raising river and sea levels.
Lying one-third in India and two-thirds in Bangladesh, the Sundarbans are where two of Asia’s biggest rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, broaden and violently roll into the Bay of Bengal. The source of the problem is 1,500 miles away, at the source of the Ganges, where melting Himalayan glaciers are raising river and sea levels.Some islands have already disappeared, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. But don’t worry friends! The Indian government is ably contributing aid to the refugees from its neighbor Bangladesh, and its own vulnerable population, George W. Bush style — by building a 10 foot high barbed wire fence.
Today the frontier between the countries is defined by two rows of 10ft barbed-wire barriers. In New Delhi the belief is that the fence is being built to ‘keep in’ an anticipated flood of refugees from Bangladesh, a crowded country more prone to devastating floods than anywhere else on the planet.
And New Delhi’s vibrant NGO community is assisting the Indian government with advice — to build the fence faster.
‘You’ve got an increasing population with a violently shrinking land mass,’ said Ajai Sahni, head of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, who worries that the Indian government is not building the fence fast enough. (emphasis added)
Readers and bloggers have had great ideas of ways we can be environmentally conscious in the gurdwara. Considering the grave consequences of climate change, how can we be environmentally conscious outside the gurdwara too? Even little things like making sure to turn the lights off when we leave the room could be considered contributions.
21 Responses to “Did you turn your lights off?”
And after turning the lights back on they fill up on langar served in styrofoam trays/cups/bottled water and dump the hundreds of bags of trash. Maybe I am wrong and this particular sangat does something to reduce the rampant waste in our Gurdwaras
Bhaingandabhartha,
What would you like to see them (or anyone) do?
And after turning the lights back on they fill up on langar served in styrofoam trays/cups/bottled water and dump the hundreds of bags of trash. Maybe I am wrong and this particular sangat does something to reduce the rampant waste in our Gurdwaras
Bhaingandabhartha,
What would you like to see them (or anyone) do?
like tons of gurdwaras in India, use steel utensils that are washed by either volunteers OR the person using the utensil. Use banana leaves. Use plates made from biodegradable recycled material. Lots of options are there. I posted once earlier about this. I suggested something to this effect for the gurdwara that I occasionally attend-I was told our people are 'too lazy' to wash their own utensils.
like tons of gurdwaras in India, use steel utensils that are washed by either volunteers OR the person using the utensil. Use banana leaves. Use plates made from biodegradable recycled material. Lots of options are there. I posted once earlier about this. I suggested something to this effect for the gurdwara that I occasionally attend-I was told our people are ‘too lazy’ to wash their own utensils.
[quote comment="1580"]And after turning the lights back on they fill up on langar served in styrofoam trays/cups/bottled water and dump the hundreds of bags of trash. Maybe I am wrong and this particular sangat does something to reduce the rampant waste in our Gurdwaras[/quote]
This particular gurdwara does not use styrofoam and plastics in the langar hall. I don't know of any gurdwaras in Toronto that do. This wasn't the only T.O. gurdwara to participate in Earth Hour.
[quote comment=”1580″]And after turning the lights back on they fill up on langar served in styrofoam trays/cups/bottled water and dump the hundreds of bags of trash. Maybe I am wrong and this particular sangat does something to reduce the rampant waste in our Gurdwaras[/quote]
This particular gurdwara does not use styrofoam and plastics in the langar hall. I don’t know of any gurdwaras in Toronto that do. This wasn’t the only T.O. gurdwara to participate in Earth Hour.
i've mostly seen them use them use styrofoam at nagar kirtans or when th gurdwara is new and they don't have steel plates. Most of the gurdwaras in the bay area use steel or plastic plates that are reusable. granted we could be more green, but we're not that bad.
baingandabhartha –
I believe most, if not all, of the gurdwaras in BC use steel or re-usable plastic plates and utensils. I am a little surprised to hear this may not be the norm at other gurdwaras in N.America.
If you are aware of specific gurdwaras consistently using styrofoam plates/utensils instead of the 'greener' alternatives, please state their names and locations – perhaps we can then address the problem. Thanks.
i’ve mostly seen them use them use styrofoam at nagar kirtans or when th gurdwara is new and they don’t have steel plates. Most of the gurdwaras in the bay area use steel or plastic plates that are reusable. granted we could be more green, but we’re not that bad.
baingandabhartha –
I believe most, if not all, of the gurdwaras in BC use steel or re-usable plastic plates and utensils. I am a little surprised to hear this may not be the norm at other gurdwaras in N.America.
If you are aware of specific gurdwaras consistently using styrofoam plates/utensils instead of the ‘greener’ alternatives, please state their names and locations – perhaps we can then address the problem. Thanks.
I know the ElSobrante Gurdwara uses paper plates. Thats the only one i know of. Maybe baingandabhartha can name some more.
I know the ElSobrante Gurdwara uses paper plates. Thats the only one i know of. Maybe baingandabhartha can name some more.
i have been to three-four gurdwaras in the central valley where they use throwaway stuff-some combination of styrofoam/paper/plastic cups/plates utensils. Selma, Dakota Gurdwara, Carruthers, and Nanaksarian da Gurdwara just on the outskirts of Fresno-although that one has some non-Sikh practices and so I never went back.
I am glad to hear so much reusable stuff is being used in other gurdwaras. Gives me hope that the central valley will one day catch up.
I think El Sobrante uses almost all throwaway stuff. The volume of trash visible on the hill side after a major even t is unbelievable. The last time I went there was 2-3 years ago.
i have been to three-four gurdwaras in the central valley where they use throwaway stuff-some combination of styrofoam/paper/plastic cups/plates utensils. Selma, Dakota Gurdwara, Carruthers, and Nanaksarian da Gurdwara just on the outskirts of Fresno-although that one has some non-Sikh practices and so I never went back.
I am glad to hear so much reusable stuff is being used in other gurdwaras. Gives me hope that the central valley will one day catch up.
I think El Sobrante uses almost all throwaway stuff. The volume of trash visible on the hill side after a major even t is unbelievable. The last time I went there was 2-3 years ago.
yeah, i went there not too long ago and you can see the trash bags up on the hill. they need major change as to that. but at least the baba tells everyone to finish their food. it's crazy how people throw away so much food.
yeah, i went there not too long ago and you can see the trash bags up on the hill. they need major change as to that. but at least the baba tells everyone to finish their food. it’s crazy how people throw away so much food.
[…] onto prior posts concerned about the environment, it’s interesting that the Transport Minister of Punjab […]