Atlantic Energy Concepts encourages our clients and partners to take steps toward responsible environmental stewardship by asking that households and businesses turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour, on Saturday, March 28th from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.
We have a poster download available to place on your business/organization/facility...to demonstrate your commitment to energy reduction!
Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007 and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.
Earth Hour is about taking simple steps everyday that collectively reduce carbon emissions – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.
Here are 9 different ways to spend Earth Hour and reduce your carbon footprint:
1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organize your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbors
2. Gather family & friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars
3. Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight
4. Organize a treasure hunt in the dark
5. Take the dog for a night walk
6. Have a candle-lit bath
7. Sit in the dark and share stories
8. Organize a family night playing board games by candlelight
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one
Earth Hour Executive Director, Andy Ridley, is encouraging people to participate in whatever way they choose and to think beyond the hour.
“There are no hard and fast rules surrounding participation in Earth Hour. We only ask that you flick that switch and have fun doing whatever you choose to do during that time.
Make Earth Hour work for you. Families with young children should feel free to turn their lights off earlier than 8:30pm and for those having too much fun in the dark during the hour, don’t feel you have to limit yourself to one hour and switch back on at 9:30pm.”
According to a Zogby International online survey 36 million people participated in Earth Hour 2008.Currently, 82 countries and more than 2100 cities are 'committed to Earth Hour 2009', a huge increase from people participating in 35 countries for Earth Hour 2008.
With 35 countries around the world participating as official flagship cities and over 400 cities also supporting, Earth Hour 2008 was a major success, celebrated on all seven continents. Iconic landmarks all around the world turned off their non-essential lighting for Earth Hour which included the Empire State Building (New York City), Sears Tower (Chicago), Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta), Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia), Wat Arun Buddhist Temple (Bangkok, Thailand), the Colosseum (Rome, Italy), Royal Castle (Stockholm, Sweden), London's City Hall (England), Space Needle (Seattle, USA), the CN Tower (Toronto, Canada) and SM Mall of Asia & The Giant Globe (Manila, Philippines).
According to WWF Thailand, Bangkok decreased electricity usage by 73.34 megawatts, which, over one hour, is equivalent to 41.6 tons of carbon dioxide.Toronto saved 900 megawatt-hours of electricity. 8.7% was saved if measured against a typical March Saturday night. Ireland, as a whole, had a reduction in electricity use of about 1.5% for the evening. In the three-hour period between 18:30 and 21:30, there was a reduction of 50 megawatts, saving 150 megawatt-hours, or approximately 6 tons of carbon dioxide. In Dubai, where external lighting on several major city landmarks was turned off and street lighting in selected areas was dimmed by 50%, the Electricity and Water Authority reported savings of 100 megawatt-hours of electricity. This represented a 2.4% reduction in demand compared to before the hour began. The best result was from Christchurch, New Zealand. The city reported a drop of 13% in electricity demand. Melbourne, Australia saved 10.1% of electricity. Sydney, being the city that participated in both 2007 and 2008 Earth Hour, cut 8.4% electricity consumption.