Commitment to Sustainability

The Himalayan Institute is committed to sustainability as an expression of yoga in action. Sustainability is an understanding that we are profoundly interconnected with the natural world, both materially and spiritually. By embracing this understanding, we can live in harmony with our environment and help to heal the planet.

This commitment begins with stewardship of the ecological balance and spiritual vibrancy of our flagship campus in Honesdale, PA, and extends to our humanitarian projects abroad in Cameroon, Mexico, and India. We endeavor to integrate our mission, operations, and programs to encourage creative, meaningful, and lasting sustainability. This is expressed in measurable and ongoing attention to the conservation of energy, water, materials, and biodiversity. We encourage our entire community, both residential and online, to join the effort, so that we can learn from each other while bringing spirituality into action.

Projects

Solar

November, 2010 – Completed installation of the largest solar thermal hot water system in the region which heats about 1,200 gallons of water a day and generates more than 184,000 kilowatt hours annually, saving more than 3,600 gallons of propane each year.

Water

In-progress – Retrofitting all campus toilets to low-flow models. This measure will decrease toilet water usage by more than 60% as many existing toilets are from the 1950′s.

Tree Planting

Planting hundreds of thousands of pongamia trees worldwide. Pongamia helps to cool arid land as well as offset carbon-dioxide emissions. Learn more about our current project Trees for Tibet.