What is THE EARTH HOUR?
The Earth Hour is actually a pretty brilliant concept. It takes place at the end of March each year. This year it will take place on March 23rd at 8:30-9:30 (local time).
Between 8:30-9:30pm, people from all over the world will gather to show appreciation for the one thing that unites us all as human beings- we all live on the same planet. For this special occasion, people demonstrate their respect, gratitude and their love for everything our earth has to offer, by turning off their lights for 60 minutes or 1 hour. This ritual is done to signify our commitment to our planet and caring for it by challenging a more sustainable world.
This campaign movement first started back in 2007 when a brainstorm session by Earth Hour Executive Director and Co-Founder, Andy Ridley, resulted in the formation of a partnership between WWF Australia, Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media to address the climate change issue. Together, the WWF-Australia proposed the idea of turning off all the lights, as a nation-wide effort to demonstrate their concern for action on climate change.More than 2.2 million individuals and 2,000 businesses turned their lights out for one hour in the first Earth Hour event. The first ever Earth Hour was a great success because “It showed that everyone, from children to CEOs and politicians, has the power to change the world they live in” – WWF Earth Hour Official Website
The following year (2008), more countries like Canada, and 35 other countries and almost 400 cities and towns were part of the event.
Last year (2012), The Earth Hour took place in more than 7001 cities and towns in 152 countries and territories across all seven continents. Hundreds of millions of people switched their lights off for an hour, and the campaign experienced its biggest growth since 2009. -WWF
This year should be the year that we raise the bar! If you didn’t know about the Earth Hour before and think that this is an awesome way to spread awareness about the importance of driving motivation for climate change action, sign up and pledge to start a local movement in your community. It can be as easy as creating a Facebook event and inviting friends to join in on the Earth Hour initiative. The loudest voices can be heard through action. By simply turning off your lights for an hour, you can visibly see people’s demand for a more sustainable world (and save energy for an hour).
Changes need to be made NOW, but it’s up to us to demand it.
For more info in the Earth Hour visit: http://www.earthhour.org/page/media-centre/faqs