Edinburgh Hindu community becomes master of carbon reduction

Shiv Ratri Celebrations at Edinburgh's Hindu Temple in February..

Edinburgh's Hindu community has becomethe first in the UK to have its carbonfootprint mapped, revealing howmuch it is contributing to climate change.The community, based at the EdinburghHindu Mandir and Cultural Centre, formerlySt Andrews Church, on Leith Links, commissionedthe Carbon Masters consultancy to calculateits contribution to climate change. Thestudy revealed that, on average, each memberof the community produces 9.25 tons of carbondioxide (CO2) every year.

Carbon Masters chief executiveKevin Houston

It has been given almost £50,000 of fundingfrom the Climate Change Fund to help it reduceits collective emissions.The money is being used to implement a carbonreduction plan to help individuals recyclemore, buy more locally sourced food, use alternativeforms of transport and save energy intheir homes.

The1100-strong community with the help ofEdinburgh University-based consultancy CarbonMasters carried out a study of its environmentalimpact last year.

The report revealed that the highest contributorto emissions was energy consumption,which accounted for 40% of each individual'scarbon footprint, transport and flights and foodwere both responsible for 24%, followed byconsumables (8%), and leisure activities (4%).Several cultural factors were evident in theHindu community's carbon footprint. A majorcontributor to high-energy use was the largenumber of bright, white light bulbs popular inHindu homes. The bulbs are not commonlyavailable in the UK and most are bought inIndia where they are cheaper.

Food buying habits peculiar to the communityalso contributed. Most people buy freshindigenous produce from local Asian storesrather than homegrown produce from supermarkets.A high number of internationalflights, most to India, but also to Africa, theMiddle East and America had the effect ofraising the community's carbon footprint significantly.In addition individual car use washigh within the community.

The next phase of the project will be to focuson challenging people to change their lifestyle.Drawing on the findings of the report, the initiativehas come up with a range of ideas formaking simple everyday cuts in carbon emissionsthat focus on community recycling,home energy checks, car-pooling, and creatingcommunity "carbon champions" to celebratethe people who make the biggest lifestylechanges. Kevin Houston, the chief executiveof Carbon Masters, said: "The carbon footprintreport provides a baseline indication of the EdinburghHindu community's emissions whichdemonstrates, clearly, the main areas that needattention.

"This is a great example of a community takingresponsibility for helping to reduce climatechange and a precedent for others throughoutthe UK to follow."

Recently, the community ran classes aimedat teaching members how to cook their favoritecurry dishes using locally grown homegrown vegetables in an attempt to reduce theamount of produce imported from India. Theevent was oversubscribed and there are plansto run further classes throughout the year as away of raising awareness about emissions aswell as building community cohesion.

As well as publishing a report on carbonemissions, the Hindu community has also producedawareness raising material. The projectmanager for the initiative, Som Narayan, said:"While we are not allowed to use funding forany building materials, we can educate peopleabout the benefits of things like double glazingand how much money they can save."Not everyone owns their own home, the decisionmay lie with the landlord but we can informpeople about what to look for in a homeand how to go about getting double glazing."We hope to be one of the most aspiringcommunities to become carbon neutral andhaving solar panels would be central to this."Som said the community was prompted totackle the issue because it recognized carbonemissions produced in the west will ultimatelyhave a disproportionate impact on people livingin less developed countries.

"The carbon footprint report provides uswith an invaluable resource that shows peoplewhere their carbon emissions come from" hesaid. "It quite clearly demonstrates the mainareas that need attention and where we canbegin to make the biggest carbon reductions."

Carbon Masters (CM) provides carbon mitigationservices to businesses and communitiesin developed and non-developedeconomies. Many of its services are facilitatedby its patented software program Carbon Guruwhich allows individuals and communities tomeasure, manage and report their carbon emissions.The Carbon Masters Standard (CMS),the UK's most challenging carbon reductionscheme, was recently approved by the EnvironmentAgency. It requires companies and organizationsto cut their greenhouse gasemissions by a minimum of 3% every year,more than the six existing carbon emissions reductionand certification schemes which are allbased on levels set by the Carbon Trust.

It is aimed at the 2,784 UK companies andorganizations that, from next April, will be requiredto pay a carbon tax under the Government'sCarbon Reduction CommitmentEnergy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).

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