Earth Hour 2009
By Jenn | March 24, 2009
Have ya’ll heard about Earth Hour? It’s happening this Saturday, March 28th, 8:30 - 9:30pm your local time, wherever you are on the globe. For the third year in a row, we are encouraged to turn off our lights & non-essential appliances to raise awareness about, and take action against, climate change. Earth Hour was started in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund, in Sydney, where 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights. The event gained international momentum in 2008, when 50 million people turned off their lights, along with the Golden Gate Bridge, the Colloseum, and the Empire State Building (Google’s homepage went dark too).
So now in 2009 the stakes have been raised– the goal is to get one billion people to participate, and by doing so to Vote Earth:
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming.
For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.
You can sign up here, find posters to print here (presumably for printing on 100% PCW paper, of course).
I’m going to be hanging out with some family on Saturday night, and I love the idea of spending time together, by candlelight, slowing down and making our vote count.
Are you going to participate in Earth Hour? What are your thoughts on the event?
Related posts:
- Green Moms Carnival
- The Perks of Global Warming
- Greening Your Dating
- Tiny Choices Earth Day Extravaganza
- Earth Wishing
- Many Psychologists Agree: Tiny Choices are GOOD.
- Tiny Choices Giveaway: The Body Shop Community Trade Basket!
Topics: Activism |
i’ll be chillin’ by candlelight that night! :)
Those of you planning to use candles, please remember that regular paraffin candles are made from hydrocarbons and actually emit more CO2 than, say, the electricity used to power a CFL lightbulb.
good point. soy candles are OK, right?
I believe soy and beeswax candles are considered carbon neutral.
Thanks for promoting Earth Hour! Another way you can recruit people to the cause is by creating a Earth Hour group on Commit21.com. Simply create a group about one action that you will commit to do for Earth Hour and recruit your friends, family, and co-workers to get involved in that action as well. When it comes to climate change, simple actions can make huge differences and Commit21 leverages social media to influence networks of friends, family, and co-workers. Check it out at www.commit21.com
check out the photos! http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html