Posted 5.6.09
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Earth Hour – Saturday 28th March, 8.30pm
You might not expect your electricity supplier to be asking you to turn your lights off, but that's exactly what we're doing on Saturday 28th March. That's because, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time, the world will be plunged into darkness for this year's Earth Hour.
It's all happening on Saturday 28th March this year at 8.30pm, wherever you are in the world. It is an international WWF climate change movement that sweeps the globe, asking everyone wherever they are to switch off their lights for an hour, saving gigawatts of energy and raising environmental issues. This year, the campaign has turned into "the world's first global election - between global warming and the earth."
WWF are trying to get 1 billion people to vote earth by switching their lights off. Last year, 50 million people participated, so the 2009 campaign is a big push ahead of the UN climate summit in December. If 1 billion people vote by switching off, this is a powerful signal to world leaders that we care about the environment, and support change in policy.
As we discussed last week, the science community have presented a document to the summit leaders on what we are up against. The next and vital step is for leaders to see public support, and this is probably the best opportunity for the global community to act in unison.
It's going well so far - the 1,000 city target has already been broken, and famous monuments will be joining in the (anti?)spectacle - the Golden Gate bridge, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel tower.
Good Energy is excited to be part of something huge that will be a clearly visible sign of a global desire to do something concrete to tackle climate change, and we hope you'll get involved too. Some may feel this doesn't make a difference, but in our opinion, something that raises the profile of the issue and encourages a change in behaviour is a good thing. There are lots of things you can do in the dark which involve the whole family - host a murder mystery evening, set out on a torch-lit treasure hunt, or take the opportunity to observe what goes on in your garden by night.
The first and most important thing you can do is make your pledge here. Once you've done that there are a whole host of other ways you can encourage friends and family to do the same.
See this link for how you can help.
http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/how_you_can_help/fundraising.cfm