I’ve spoken about the WWF before and mentioned that they are involved in many different and worthwhile projects (read my posts here and here). The most recent project they are involved in is Earth Hour 2009.
Earth Hour started in 2007 in Australia and was supported by 2 million people. Last year it went global and was supported by 50 million people. Hopefully this year will be even bigger.
The basic idea is that everyone switches of their lights for one hour on the same day at the same time. This year it’s the 28th March at 8:30pm (I think it’s supposed to be the last Saturday in March). Obviously it doesn’t make a difference that everyone does it at the same time but it’s a way of showing solidarity. I’m not sure what the impact on energy consumption is or will be, and I realise that this exercise is more about creating awareness of energy use than actually saving energy, but I think it would be a good idea to make this a regular thing. Maybe once a month or once a week. That would keep it in people’s minds.
This year, Earth Hour will see the lights go out on some of the most recognised attractions on the planet, including Cape Town’s Table Mountain, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Merlion in Singapore, Sydney Opera House, the iconic 6-star hotel, the Burj al Arab, in Dubai, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the world’s tallest constructed building, the Taipei 101.
Earth Hour 2009 has one major aim: to unite the citizens of the world in the fight against climate change in order to convince governments and world leaders that our planet cannot wait any longer. There simply isn’t enough time, and therefore 2009 is a colossally important, if not the most critical year, to take action on climate change. 2009 is the year we decide the future of our planet.
Go and check out the website and sign up – signing up helps them to measure how much support they are getting.
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2 responses to “Earth Hour 2009”
The new Vote Earth 2009 global website has launched. There is an element on the site that incorporates Google’s Friend Connect and we want to get 1 billion people on the site by November before Copenhagen. A big ask, so we need some help.
To get involved, all you need to do is:
1. Go to the site – http://www.voteearth2009.org
2. Register with Friend Connect
3. Send to a friend and get more people to sign up.
We need to get as many people as we can involved. So please encourage your friends to get involved.
Get involved and VOTE EARTH!
I was having dinner at a friend’s place during Earth Hour, we turned out the lights and used candles, it was quite fun, although we did somehow get melted wax on a lot of furniture.
But what was very disappointing, was looking out the window at Cape Town and seeing absolutely no difference to a normal night. All the lights were shining brightly, house lights, street lights, stadium lights… Sad.