Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative that aims to create awareness of people taking action and moving towards a sustainable future by turning the lights off.
Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change that year. Today, there are over 162 countries and territories participating worldwide.
Join the movement this year to halt the damage on our environment by turning off your electricity on March 28th, from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM local time.
Effects of Earth Hour
About 39% of America’s total energy is used to generate electricity, meaning, electricity consumption is a prevalent portion of a consumer's environmental footprint. Earth Hour is a tool to spread awareness of this damage to the environment. Even a mere hour without the use of electricity has a direct effect on the environmental impact.
After Earth Hour 2013, external lighting on several major city landmarks in Dubai was turned off and street lighting in certain 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. Now, multiply these results to a global scale.
Though these are important results, the purpose of Earth Hour isn’t primarily about conserving electricity in that hour, it’s a symbolic action with a long-term goal in mind; for people to continue to practice sustainable habits moving forward. Earth Hour acts as a reminder and celebration that we all have the power to come together and re-examine, re-focus, and re-engage the environmental topics that truly matter. Increasing awareness of environmental issues acts as a catalyst for future sustainable action.
Have Some Fun With Earth Hour
Participating in Earth Hour is simple to do and can be celebrated with friends and family. Whether it’s at home, at your favorite hangout, or even in the office, there are plenty of fun ways to participate!
1. Play games - sit around the living room and play a boards game, tell ghost stories, play a game of truth or dare, or play charades with friends and family. Get cozy and light some candles!
2. Cook a raw dinner - Who says you need an oven or stove to make a delicious meal? Try out these raw recipes you can make without any electricity; Ahi Tuna Salad with Miso-Wasabi Dressing, Pistachio-Pear Cucumber Salad, Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles.
3. Hula hoop party in the street - bring out the hula hoops and get active! This Earth Hour go outside: jump, dance, and hula hoop your way through the hour.
4. Have a block party - make it a community event and invite your friends and neighbors over to partake in the movement.
5. Dance in the moonlight - a wonderful way to show your love for the environment is to dance under the moonlight. It will be a first quarter moon on the 28th of March, meaning a half-moon, so plenty of illumination to show off your moves!
6. Succulent terrarium - make a craft during Earth Hour. We recommend creating something new out of something old...take an old coffee pot you rarely use, or that bowl that’s been sitting in your cabinet untouched, and decorate it with beautiful succulents to add some green to your home.
7. Build a fort - Earth Hour is an opportunity to use our hands, build something, get creative, and step away from electronics. Remember how fun it was to gather chairs, sheets, and pillows and build a fort?
8. Star gazing - spend Earth Hour looking up at the stars and remind yourself how important our Earth is.
9. Go to the park - look up your local park hours and play in the park. Slide down the slides or swing on the monkey bars. Depending on cloud cover, there should be enough natural light to see.
10. Read a book - finally finish that book you have been wanting to read for ages but haven’t found the time to.
11. Go camping - celebrate the environment in the environment! Go to your favorite campsite for the night or pitch a tent in your backyard.
12. Make puppets - create puppets and put on a puppet show for friends and family!
13. Paint or water color - get creative and use your artistic skills to paint a portrait of the Earth, your favorite beach, or a butterfly using water colors to add fun details!
14. Make world flags out of construction paper - celebrate the oneness in the global community that participates in Earth Hour by creating flags of your different countries using construction paper.
15. Play an instrument - whether you're playing the recorder or xylophone with your kids or guitar and bongo drums with friends, jam out with an instrument and make some groovy music!
16. Scavenger hunts - plan out an awesome scavenger hunt before Earth Hour, and once the lights go off, let the games begin!
How to Participate
Join the global community in showing your commitment to this planet by turning off non-essential electricity from 8:30 PM until 9:30 PM (local time) on Saturday March 28th. During Earth Hour, turn off your lights, TV and computer. Unplug any electronics not in use like coffee machines, lamps, chargers, and hair dryers. Get together with other families and friends and encourage them to participate. Go to EarthHour.org and sign up to participate in this year’s Earth Hour. Spread awareness of the movement now and get your friends and family to partake by tweeting #EarthDay or sharing on Facebook.
Beyond the Hour
Earth Hour is a symbolic action showing that nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something. Take your passion for the planet beyond the hour by being aware of the effects we have on our environment in our daily lives. Together let’s turn the inspiration of one hour into the actions of every hour. Reduce your carbon footprint by leading a sustainable lifestyle. Incorporate eco-friendly habits awareness into your everyday lifestyle. Turn off the lights when you leave a room, turn off the water faucet while brushing your teeth, take shorter showers, ride your bike, eat a meatless meal once a week. By participating in Earth Hour, you are joining millions of not only individuals but large businesses across all seven continents for a truly powerful and symbolic demonstration.
Sources
https://www.earthhour.org//official-videos
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/world/earth-hour
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/index.html
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/03/earth-hour-benefit-sustainability/
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/03/jersey_city_joins_global_commu.html
