British Hindus Most Eco-friendly Among Followers of All Religions : Findings of a British Institute

London (Britain) – Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) undertook special research and according to its research, Hindus among the followers of all religions in Britain, are most active in conservation of nature i.e. their activities are the most eco-friendly.

Important findings of the research

Survey was conducted of the three largest religious communities in Britain viz. Christians, Muslims and Hindus. It has also been stated in the survey that your being eco-friendlier depends upon your being a believer in God.

The researchers tried to find out the relation between religious faith and environmentalism for which followers of different religions were interviewed in depth and research was conducted by studying the inferences based on the interviews.

It was observed through those inferences that British Hindus have been leading in eco-friendly actions and compared to the followers of other religions, their actions are more complementary to the preservation of the environment. It was revealed in the study that 64% Hindus participate in rewilding, 78% Hindus actively change their habits, consumer habits in the interest of maintaining the environment while 44% Hindus join environmental groups.

The study also indicated that 92% Muslims and 82% Christians believe that they are bound by their religion to take care of the environment but their actions do not always translate into action.

Hindus also believe that everything in the world is worth worshipping like God. ‘Puja’ is not just an object but of the God Principle in it. This ideology gives a viewpoint that everything is sacred and taking care of the environment is like performing ‘puja’ of God and serving the whole Universe since the Universe is deeply interconnected to God.

As per the age groups, 46% of youth under 18-24 years of age feel that God is environmentalist and only 17% of people in the age group of 65 years and above feel that way.

Extraordinary teachings of Hindu Dharma make Hindus more balancing with the environment

Dr Amanda Murjan, a research associate of IIFL stated that Hindu Dharma emphasises relations between each other which inculcates values for conserving the environment. Hindu Dharma teaches that nature is not only a resource but a sacred entity. The belief that God is in everything connects humanity with all existence, reinforcing an intrinsic responsibility toward conversion.

‘The Guardian’ had discussions with a few British Hindus, Muslims and Christians about this research. The subject of the discussions was ‘How they reconcile faith and environment ?’

Bansari Ruparel, a 35-year-old working woman said –

Everything in Hindu Dharma is associated with the environment or taking care of the environment and kindness.

As per Hindu traditions, we don’t pluck flowers or leaves after sunset because they are considered to be resting or sleeping. When we pluck a flower, we should ask the tree for its permission.

Hindu Dharma is based on actions (Karma). The outcome of our actions creates consequent effects. What we do in this birth affects our next birth because it is reincarnation.

I don’t use plastic and I make sure that my products are eco-friendly.

The younger generation like Gen Z (born between 1996 and 2010) seems to be more aware of environmental conservation than my generation.

Environment is the reflection of our human body; e.g. when a tree is cut, its trunk looks like imprints of our fingers. Many things in nature are reflections of our body. It is all connected and Hindu Dharma teaches us to consider oneself as a part of this environment; respect the relation between human beings and nature.

Editorial Perspectives

Every act is given importance in Hindu Dharma instead of the principle. Hindus follow acts based on science as prescribed under Dharma; therefore, they are one of the leading communities in the world contributing to the country wherever they live. The current research once again proves this fact.