Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Earth Hour

Turn out. Take action.
Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time

In it's third year, and with time still to go before the globe switches off for Earth Hour, the number of cities and towns signing up to switch their lights off at 8.30pm on 28 March has already exceeded the ambitious target of 1,000 set by Earth Hour organisers.

Earth Hour 2009 – What Will You Be Doing?
Cuddling up with your loved ones and admiring the stars in the night sky or organising a treasure hunt in the dark? At 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March, people from all corners of the world will turn off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour - and cast their vote for action on climate change. Anybody can participate and join together with millions of people across the globe celebrating Earth Hour.

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 10 different ways to spend Earth Hour and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organise your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbours
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. Organise 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. Organise a family night playing board games
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one
10. Upload your ‘on the night’ photos and videos to flickr and YouTube respectively, and then add them to the Earth Hour flickr group and the global YouTube Group.

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.

In Sydney, where Earth Hour began in 2007, every ferry in the city’s famous harbour will sound its horn at precisely 8.30pm to herald the beginning of Earth Hour in Australia, while in Melbourne a people-pedal-powered concert will be underway at Federation Square.

On the other side of the world, arrangements will be underway for a host of concerts and parties in cities across Europe, including a ‘circle of percussion’ in Athens, where people will be given percussion instruments to play, led by a conductor, as the lights go out on the Acropolis.

To find out more about Earth Hour or see what events are happening in your area, visit the official website http://www.earthhour.org/, sign up and join millions of people in more than 1,400 cities and towns in 80 countries throughout the world by turning off your lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March.

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