What it’s all about?

It's as simple as a flick of the switch.

What began as a campaign to get Sydneysiders to turn their lights off, has grown to become one of the world's biggest climate change initiatives. In 2009, at 8.30pm on March 28,people around the world will turn their lights off for one hour - Earth Hour. We're aiming to reach one billion people, more than 1000 cities, all joining together in a global effort to show that its possible to take action on global warming.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney , Australia with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning their lights off for one hour. Only a year later and this event had become a global sustainability movement with up to 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco , Rome 's Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square , all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

Earth Hour 2009 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to take responsibility and to get involved in working towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to The Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world will turn off their lights and join together in creating the vital conversation about the future of our precious planet.

Over 64 countries and territories are participating in Earth Hour 2009. This number grows every day as people realise how such a simple act, can have such a profound result in affecting change.

Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action.



Everyone can make a difference.

I am still not clear about this earth hour stuff.

World switches off to save planet in "Earth Hour"

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Lights went out at tourism landmarks and homes across the globe on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event designed to highlight the threat from climate change.

From the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Houses of Parliament, lights were dimmed as part of a campaign to encourage people to cut energy use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

Organizers said the action showed millions of people wanted governments to work out a strong new U.N. deal to fight global warming by the end of 2009, even though the global economic crisis has raised worries about the costs.

"We have been dreaming of a new climate deal for a long time," Kim Carstensen, head of a global climate initiative at the conservation group WWF, said in a candle-lit bar in the German city of Bonn, which hosts U.N. climate talks between March 29 and April 8.

"Now we're no longer so alone with our dream. We're sharing it with all these people switching off their lights," he said as delegates and activists sipped bluish cocktails.

The U.N. Climate Panel says greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and will lead to more floods, droughts, heatwaves, rising sea levels and animal and plant extinctions.

World emissions have risen by about 70 percent since the 1970s. China has recently overtaken the United States as the top emitter, ahead of the European Union, Russia and India.

BILLION PEOPLE TAKE PART

The U.N. Climate Panel says rich nations will have to cut their emissions to a level between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of warming. Developing nations will also have to slow the rise of their emissions by 2020, it says.

Australia first held Earth Hour in 2007 and it went global in 2008, attracting 50 million people, organizers say. WWF, which started the event, is hoping one billion people from nearly 90 countries will take part.

"The primary reason we do it is because we want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint, and ideally take that beyond the hour," Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley told reporters at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

In Asia, lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were dimmed as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts.

Buildings in Singapore's business district went dark along with major landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer, a giant observation wheel.

Other global landmarks that switched off their lights included the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Reserve Bank in Mumbai, the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Egypt's Great Pyramids and the Acropolis in Athens.

(Reporting by Reuters bureau; Writing by Jon Boyle)


Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Yes of course. In fact, I switch off at 5.00pm and I switch on at 9.36pm.

Whats funny is that they even suggested that we dont eat beans that night afraid that we might take out a burp or a fart which will be bad for our ozone layer. LOL

Anybody in Nigeria that participated in "earth hour" is a bloody liar.
You didn't switch anything off. You were compelled to by the ever persistent NEPA.
This environment thing no konsaign naija at all. We've been having earth hour every hour since 1987.

NEPA actually cares about the environment.

Still wondering what turning off power for an hour achieved

That means we are going to be in the dark of an hour?



NO.I wont be turning off anything.I am not of your religion.

minute:

NO.I wont be turning off anything.I am not of your religion.

Hehe!

I was watching Larry King Live and the man who started it was talking about it.I thought it was a good idea but Lights never go off in my house except when its bed time.

Okay, did you guys do it, did you switch your appliances off?

For 9ja you no need somebody to off ya light, nepa abi na phcn dem call am go help you keep them off all the time.

NEPA or no NEPA. This campaign is a worldwide thing right now and the reason why they told us to switch off the lights on March 28 for one hour is that so when everyone switches it off at one go, we are actually saving the earth at that hour (cause it falls on that day itself). Production will stop for an hour in factories, we will minimize energy usage. . . I know NEPA has ben killing the electricity there in Naija most of the time but on the March 28 from 8.20pm - 9.m0pm, was there any electricity then?

And remember, this does not only apply to your houses but also to companies and factories and other buildings in Naija and the whole world. So just because you think NEPA switches off your house or college electricity, they might be other premises whom have electricity and it counts when they switch off their lights.

And also by switching off your electricity at that time, you are actually voting towards earth hour. If you do not switch it off during that hour, than you are not voting towards earth hour. If theres power failure in your country, consider you are not voting either.

I hate it when theres no modify button

[b]NEPA or no NEPA. This campaign is a worldwide thing right now and the reason why they told us to switch off the lights on March 28 for one hour is that so when everyone switches it off at one go, we are actually saving the earth at that hour (cause it falls on that day itself). Production will stop for an hour in factories, we will minimize energy usage. . . I know NEPA has ben killing the electricity there in Naija most of the time but on the March 28 from 8.20pm - 9.m0pm, was there any electricity then?

And remember, this does not only apply to your houses but also to companies and factories and other buildings in Naija and the whole world. So just because you think NEPA switches off your house or college electricity, they might be other premises whom have electricity and it counts when they switch off their lights.

And also by switching off your electricity at that time, you are actually voting towards earth hour. If you do not switch it off during that hour, than you are not voting towards earth hour. If theres power failure in your country, consider you are not voting either. [/b]

Still don't see how it concerns Nigerians.
If they actually told nigerians to switch off GENERATORS, then the earth would be done a favor.
Nepa generates 2000 MW maximum capacity. I'm betting it that during earth hour, production was less than 500 MW.
What difference would it make. 98% of the entire nation probably didnt have "light" during earth hour anyway

It not only concerns Nigerians but the whole world. Bare in mind that Nigeria itself is soooooo hugeeee and have soooo many people compared to other countries and the rwell off to the rich there are alot so I presume all those whom are well off have 24/7 electricity.

U think you are not making a differences but thats what Sydney Australia thought so too in the year 2007 when they were the one first started this campaign and they were the only ones doing it. . . But their patience has been a great success cause now this campaign is spread towards the whole world.

But however if you think that this earth hour is not important and it doesnt concerns you, than just leave your electricity to on. Nobody is stopping you as this is not a compulsory activity.

The other day when I check, turn out to be its more than just switching off your lights. They encourage you to switch off air conditioning systems, generators and other appliances which carries a high capacity of energy usage, They even advice us not to eat soo much beans that night cause it will realease out burp and fart from the person (gas which will also polute the air) and stuff like that. I hear that Naija has alot of rubish everywhere. On that day itself, you guys should start cleaning up the area instead of taking things for granted.

Just bare in mind that we are doing this for our future generation and also to decrease the threat towards global warning.

Earth Hour is tonight, March 29th from 8 to 9 pm. The idea is to turn off the lights as a symbolic gesture that us citizens, business owners, uber-corporations (hello, Google’s black screen, hello McDonalds in Toronto saving 10 000 kilowatt hours) local governments and non-profit groups are taking climate change seriously.

Despite gripes that Earth Hour falls on the NCAA basketball regional, it’s lights out for over 23 major cities worldwide like Toronto and Bangkok.

Globally, landmarks like Sydney Opera House, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco’s Alcatraz prison and Chicago’s Sears Tower are also included in the event.


It’s been dubbed a WWF led “spread of soft fascism” and “a new-age, tooth-fairy delusion” by global warming skeptics (wow, they still exist?) and it has four million strong Facebook group following.

Whatever the goal behind WWF’s Earth Hour, it’s a positive message spurring many unexpected and inspiring actions like the {4 One Earth I Will} initiative in Vancouver, where local residents make a visual pledge to take action on climate change.

What’s more interesting than the beaten “soft fascism” idea is that with climate change becoming the new religion, Earth Hour has all reminisces of a vigil - a “ritual devotion observed on the eve of a holy day”.

For citizen groups, businesses, governments and your neighbors, it’s more than just sitting in the dark, it sends a message that “yes we take climate change seriously”.

So, keeping in line with the theme of buying local to reduce emissions, us Vancouverites at Green Printer want to give kudos to local businesses for flicking off, including:

1. Telus

2. BC Hydro

3. Small Energy Group - tracking the energy usage

4. Raincity Grill

5. Better Business Bureau of Vancouver Island

6. Jawl Properties Ltd.

7. Orion Homes Ltd.

8. Morguard Investments Ltd

And, it’s not just business, its entire communities too, who are taking action.

The 170 residents in the northern B.C., Canada town of Hartley Bay are taking Earth Hour’s mandate a step further and turning off their power generator for the hour. “No heat. Not lights. No nothing,” said Hartley Bay Coun. Cameron Hill, a member of the Gitga’at First Nation.

Save trees, time and money the climate friendly way with our recycled paper, sustainable printing methods and eco-calculator with Green Printer - more details at http://greenprinteronline.com. Now, wasn’t that easy?

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