Tomorrow night, people around the world are set to switch off their power and take a stand against climate change. Earth Hour is one of the largest worldwide environmental events and will be taking place between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday.
Tomorrow night, people around the world are set to switch off their power and take a stand against climate change. Earth Hour is one of the largest worldwide environmental events and will be taking place between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday.
“At the very minimum it’s quite nice to do something to honour Earth Hour like turning off your lights,” said Rhodes University’s safety, health and environmental officer, Nikki Kohly. She encourages Grahamstonians to enjoy a candle-lit dinner on Saturday night.
The campaign originated in Australia when the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) encouraged Sydney residents to turn off their lights for an hour one evening in 2007. The hour grew into an international movement with more than 135 countries taking part in 2011.
According to the Earth Hour website (italwww.earthhour.org/ital), this hour of darkness is scheduled every year to take place on the last Saturday of March in an attempt to closely coincide with the equinox. The campaign was born out of a need to raise awareness about sustainability issues and climate change.
Earth Hour is about “making a change that sticks,” remarked Kohly. Lasting changes to your lifestyle are what will help in counteracting carbon emissions, so let this year’s Earth Hour be the beginning of an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
