Earth Hour, which celebrates the connections among people throughout the world, happens tonight between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. local time, when participants turn off their lights for an hour.
What each of us does with that hour is a personal decision, but it is a great time for families to get together and have some fun, with at least a passing discussion of the environmental issues that concern us.
People in more than 180 countries are participating this year in Earth Hour, according to the website of the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), which started the event in 2007.
“Earth Hour 2019 is a powerful opportunity to start an unstoppable movement … to help secure an international commitment to stop and reverse the loss of nature,” Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said in a news release.
For many, turning off the lights is a symbolic commitment, a first step on the road to mass change. People in some countries have gotten together to set specific goals. People in Ecuador, for example, are pushing for a legal ban on certain plastics; Finland is encouraging a move toward healthier, sustainable foods; Morocco is educating people about saving water; and Indonesia is encouraging its youth to adopt greener lifestyles, according to organizers.
As I post this, Earth Hour is underway in India and already over in Australia and most of Asia.
Getting kids involved is part of the fun and education of the event. I thought the magazine “Chicago Parent” had some good ideas for involving young children with answers to a series of questions they might ask. Here’s a couple of them:
Why are the lights out?
“There are millions of people around the city and the world who
want to make sure that we take care of planet Earth because it’s
our home. Turning off the lights for an hour is called Earth Hour.
It’s a celebration of our planet and a time for us to think about
what we can all do to help protect it. Turning off the lights saves
electricity and water, and saving resources like that is good for
the planet.”
Should we turn off the lights every night
then?
“Nope, not necessarily. This is what’s called “symbolic gesture.”
We need to use electricity to get things done at night, and during
the day, too. But if we are mindful about using electricity, water
and other resources only when we need to and not using them or
turning them off when we do not need them, that helps. We can be
better about turning out the lights for a few minutes at a time,
and eventually, that will add up.”
Photo: Doug Irvine, ©WWF Aus
Since the beginning, Earth Hour has been celebrated by those who control some of the world’s most-famous landmarks, from the Space Needle in Seattle to the Empire State Building in New York, Tower Bridge in London and Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
Other landmarks in Seattle that have gone dark in the past (I’m not sure about this year) include Key Arena, the Museum of Pop Culture (formerly Experience Music Project), Pacific Science Center, Showbox at the Market (downtown Seattle), Showbox SoDo. 1201 Third Avenue (formerly Washington Mutual tower) and University of Washington Tower, according to a story by KIRO-TV news.
Earth Hour is a partnership between WWF and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Check out the Connect2Earth platform.
