Turn Off Your Lights for Earth Hour

BEFORE: Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco before Earth Hour in 2009. Photo: John Storey/WWF-US

At 8:30 p.m. on March 27, countries around the world will be celebrating Earth Hour by turning off their lights and sitting through 60 minutes of darkness.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) event aims to show participants the infinite possibilities a united global effort can have on combating environmental issues, such as global warming and energy consumption.

Billy Gentle, communications manager of Earth Hour Global, says the event will bring communities together and create a platform for individuals and organizations who want to discuss low-carbon resolutions with their neighbors.

Businesses, too, are encouraged through this event to work alongside competitors and come up with a solution to the “indiscriminate threat of global warming.”

Molson Coors Brewing Company will be turning off all non-essential lighting at its breweries and offices, including its Denver headquarters.

“Earth Hour represents an important principle of sustainability – act locally to impact globally,” says Bart Alexander, Molson Coors’ global vice president of alcohol policy and corporate responsibility.

AFTER: Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco during Earth Hour in 2009. Photo: John Storey/WWF-US

With goals that extend far beyond Earth Hour, the international brewing company seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent by 2015 and lower energy use by 15 percent by 2013.

A number of historic landmarks will be turning off their lights in honor of Earth Hour.

The venerable list includes the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Grand Palace in Bangkok, Sky Tower in Auckland, Empire State Building in New York City, Forbidden City in Beijing, Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, London Eye in England and Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, among others scattered throughout Mexico City, Dubai, Turkey and Madrid.

The event has also garnered support from several recognized ambassadors, ranging from a Nobel Peace Prize winner (Archbishop Desmond Tutu) to a former Spice Girl (Melanie Chisholm) to a panda (Mei Lan).

Having gained momentum and publicity since last year’s event, Earth Hour now boasts 34 more participating countries, including Nepal, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Macau, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Czech Republic and Madagascar.

In 2009 alone, more than 1 billion people from 4,159 different cities participated in Earth Hour, an event which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described as “the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted.”

Even though Earth Hour is celebrated by some of the world’s most illustrious cities and people, Gentle explains that the event does not strive to be an actual energy reduction exercise.

A largely symbolic gesture, Earth Hour does not measure carbon reduction levels, and devotes most of its energy to promoting communities, businesses and governments to better understand their carbon footprint and experiment with different solutions to the climate crisis.

In 2010, 120 countries will participate in Earth Hour, along with 2,521 cities and 57 capitals. Of the world’s participating nations, Canada, Belgium and France top the list with more than 200 individual cities slated to switch off their lights this Saturday.

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