What is Earth Hour and when do I celebrate it?
Earth Hour is taking place this Saturday, 26th March
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Your support makes all the difference.People around the world will celebrate Earth Hour this weekend. But what is it, and how can you get involved?
What is Earth Hour?
Earth Hour is an event to raise awareness on the climate crisis. It started in Sydney, Australia 14 years ago.
By turning out non-essential lights, the event provides a visual symbol of just how many people are concerned about what climate change and the destruction of nature are doing to the planet.
As the impacts of global heating become increasingly evident around the world, the organisers hope that Earth Hour also sparks conversations on working together to reduce emissions, and protecting nature, a vital ally in tackling the climate crisis.
WWF, one of the environmental partners of Earth Hour, says that the event has driven concrete legislative change which includes a 2,700 hectare “Earth Hour” forest in Uganda, a 3.4-million hectare marine protected area in Argentina and the creation of a national park in Malaysia.
When and where is Earth Hour?
Earth Hour takes place for one hour at 8.30pm, on your local time, 26th March.
The event always takes place on the last Saturday of March and has sprouted into a global grassroots movement with people in more than 190 countries taking part.
In the past, some of the world’s most iconic landmarks have gone dark to mark Earth Hour including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and New York’s Times Square.
The first Earth Hour was in Sydney on Saturday, 31 March 2007, when more than 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour, according to WWF.
The event has taken place virtually for the past two years due to the pandemic. A number of celebrities including actors Sofia Vergara and Park Seo-Joon, Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge and tennis champion Andy Murray, along with world leaders UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis marked the occasion virtually in 2021.
The message for this year’s Earth Hour is “Shape Our Future” with a focus on helping people and nature thrive together, says WWF.
How do I celebrate it?
The main aspect of taking part is turning off all non-essential lights. Then, it’s really up to you.
There’s a long list of official events taking place around the world, both in person and online, which can be found here.
For example, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, organizers are holding an outdoor night camping event in nature. In Kula, Hawai’i , one church is having a candlelit vigil and environmental film screening, while in Luxembourg, a city youth hostel is hosting a night hike followed by a candlelit dinner.
WWF offers some suggestions if you’d rather stay home or in your local neighborhood including stargazing, going on a night hike; a candlelit dinner, party or yoga session; or having an art session with glow-in-the-dark, non-toxic neon paint.
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