Our Earth, Earth Hour

Earth Hour has been quite an annual family activity for me and my folks at home. It’s one of those really special nights when we bond, share pizza in the dark, as some slow classical or jazz music is playing in the background - or better yet, my pa playing some tunes with the guitar - while saving Mother Earth at the same time. And tomorrow, March 31^st, we’ll be having our fourth Earth Hour together.

About Earth Hour:

It was in 2007 when WWF-Australia encouraged the residents of Sydney to take action and raise awareness concerning climate change, and the first Earth Hour event took place. About 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 businesses in Sydney took part for the cause and turned all their lights off for an hour to take a stand against climate change.

With the success of the previous event, WWF-Australia planned to take Earth Hour to the rest of Australia. But then the City of Toronto, Canada, signed up and it wasn’t long before 35 countries and almost 400 cities and towns were part of the event.  It said something compelling to the world: that the climate challenges facing our planet are so significant that change needs to be global.

With the invitation to ‘switch off’ extended to everyone, Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event. It’s scheduled on the last Saturday of every March – closely coinciding with the equinox to ensure most cities are in darkness as it rolled out around the Earth.

In 2011, Earth Hour saw hundreds of millions of people across 135 countries switch off for an hour. But it also marked the start of something new – going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action on climate change.

EARTH HOUR 2012

8:30-9:30 PM (or beyond!)

Note: At home, we switch off and plug out all our electronic appliances as well. It works twice better. And if you could take the dark, don’t light candles. It just releases carbon dioxide as it burns, therefore, the turning off of lights won’t be as effective.

Earth Hour 2012 Video

It’s never too late to make a difference. You don’t need superpowers or a kick-awesome costume to save the world. All you need is a pure motive and a simple gesture of concern, and with that, you are a hero yourself – you know that.

Check out EarthHour.org for more information

♥Andz