Press release: Hinduism and H20

During the campaign LSx worked with community leaders to promote water saving to nearly 3000 members of the east London Hindu community. At a series of temple talks, festival stalls and children’s activities, Londoners of Hindu faith learned about the links between Hindu beliefs and water conservation. Gifts such as calendars and mugs with reminders to save water in Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil were distributed. Community members warmly welcomed the initiative:

"It's quite clever for them to make the link between our religion and saving water. It makes sense to Hindus because respecting nature is our 'dharma' or our duty and so we can vibe with their message easily".

Hindu people responded very enthusiastically to the campaign, making 524 pledges to take up water saving measures such as turning off the tap when brushing their teeth. So now LSx and Thames Water are now recruiting a team of 'champions' to build on 'Hinduism and H2O' and spread the water saving message to neighbours, colleagues and friends. Each Champion will help to inspire innovative community led action to save precious water resources, for example by arranging plumbing workshops to help people reduce water wastage in the home.

Thames Water will also be visiting temples and businesses to support to them 'showcase' simple no or low cost measures that can be taken to cut costs on water bills.

Lynn Launchbury, Thames Water's water efficiency campaigns manager, said:

"Last year's drought may be a thing of the past, but we need to raise awareness that conserving water is becoming increasingly important".

"London's population is expanding and is increasingly diverse, on top of growing usage per head and the increasing impact of climate change. There will be a greater demand for water in our area in years to come, and it is vital we show people of all backgrounds how easy it is to save water".

Samantha Heath, Director of London Sustainability Exchange, said:

"Over 300 languages are spoken in the capital and more than one in four

Londoners were born overseas. We have to ensure the messages reach all of London's communities if we are all going to leave a sound legacy for our children".

Water saving tips include:

• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth - leaving the tap on wastes six litres of water a minute.
• Have a refreshing shower instead of a bath  - this can save over 300 litres of water a week.  Be careful though, a power shower can use more water than a bath!
• Wait for a full load before you use the washing machine - a full load uses less water than two half loads.
• Fix dripping taps; each dripping tap wastes 130 litres of water every week.