Earth Hour 2011

Did you notice anything different or odd last Saturday night around your city or neighbourhood?

26 March 2011 was marked Earth Hour night - in which everyone worldwide is encouraged to turn the lights off for 60 minutes to reduce energy consumption. This event began right here in Down Under! Started in Sydney in 2007 and followed by New Zealand and Fiji - now, it is a global movement taking place in all major cities worldwide in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Many world leaders and prime ministers worldwide believe that Earth Hour is "a huge symbol of global solidarity, an inspiring display of international commitment". Over 4000 cities worldwide participated in Earth Hour including landmarks such as:

Cristo Redentor, Rio de Janeiro

Sydney Opera House, Australia

Petronas Tower, Malaysia

 Big Ben, London

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Sky Tower, Auckland

Social networking sites like Facebook had hugely helped the success of this event! 1.3 billion people took part in Earth Hour last year! and this year 134 countries had signed on to participate. NZ was one of the first countries to switch off the lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm local time. 

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) New Zealand campaigner, Lee Barry said "Switching off lights for an hour is a symbolic gesture to show that people are willing to take a stand for the planet. This year we're asking people to go beyond the hour and make a pledge that they can sustain every day in their lives" - this include people considering to drive their car less, taking public transport, cycling or car pooling as the NZ's rate of emissions from transport is unacceptably high !! 

What were the impacts of Earth Hour worldwide? Some of the impacts include:

• Last year, New Zealand power consumed during Earth Hour dropped 2%. In 2009, it dropped 3.5%!
• 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide reduced in Chicago! -  this is the same amount of carbon dioxide as 104 acres of trees produced, and all this saved only within one hour during Earth Hour!
• Energy savings of 170 megawatts in Jakarta, Indonesia
• Over $23,000 and 400,000 kilowatts in Vietnam saved
• 204,000 kilowatts in Dubai

I personally think Earth Hour is a wonderful global event that unites people all over the world to peacefully work together in saving our planet. It is a small but powerful positive step towards achieving sustainable living. 

Do you think it is an effective global movement?