Earth Hour
SUMMARY OF EARTH HOUR
The Issue Climate change is the most significant threat to life on Earth. One way to slow the current rate of global warming is to get each individual to make small adjustments to the way they live. To achieve individual change we need to demonstrate how simple and easy the changes are.
The Solution
An event that gets full community involvement in a simple action that will make a difference. WWF-Australia invites all households and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour at 8pm on March 29 2008 – this is Earth Hour.
The Objectives
- Get as many individuals, households and businesses as possible to turn off their lights as a symbolic statement about the greatest contributor to climate change (eg: fossil fuel- fired energy)
- Educate the community on the threat of global warming and what each individual can do to make a difference in their day-to-day activities to reduce their emissions
- Get corporate participants to communicate Earth Hour through internal and external channels and commit to turn off their lights on the night
- Provide precedent for an annual event and seek involvement from other cities around the world
- Measure the change in your city’s greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for a 5% reduction in the year following Earth Hour.
The Message
Commercial Sector
If the commercial sector turned off lights when buildings weren’t in use and combined this action with other cost effective technology, they could reduce lighting emissions significantly, and would save millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Earth Hour aims to show these companies how easy and cost efficient these changes can be through case studies of companies that have already achieved massive reductions in their emissions.
Households
We want each individual to understand that electricity consumption is a direct contributor to global warming and that small actions by every individual can make a big difference. If all households simply turned off unused lighting and appliances on standby at the power point it would reduce millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas per annum.
Lady Elliot is participating in EARTH HOUR 2008, where all power on the island will be turned off between the hours of 8:00pm and 9:00pm on the 29th March 2008. To turn offall the power on the island means our generators will be off and that the island will be in peace and quiet. A special activity will be held during this time to show guests what theisland experience is like without modern conveniences... Wayne Fox, Resort Manager
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