One year ago on March 31, 2007 Sydney, Australia inspired a movement that has the rest of the world taking notice and following suit. This movement is being called Earth Hour. At the same time on March 29 this year (2008), everyone is being asked to participate in a global Earth Hour by turning off their lights for one hour at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Why Turn Out Your Lights?
Earth Hour provides an opportunity for individuals, businesses, and governments to demonstrate environmental leadership by turning off the lights for just an hour. It is a symbolic action anyone can take which sends a clear message that action is possible and inaction is unacceptable. And, that the lifestyle we are currently living is not a Natural lifestyle and that we are interested and capable of changing the way things are.

What Were the Results from Last Year’s Earth Hour in Sydney?
In Sydney alone last year, their efforts reduced their energy consumption by 10.2%. That is the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off of the road for an hour!

• More than 57 per cent of the Australian population say they took part by: switching off their lights (53 per cent), turning off computers (25 per cent), turning off appliances (25 per cent) or turning off TV (17 per cent).
• Nearly 2,000 businesses and government departments took part.
• 90 McDonald's dimmed their signs (golden arches).
• Restaurants offered candlelit dinners.
• Lights on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House were turned off.

Who Is Participating?
I first learned about Earth Hour last week from our local newspaper. We live outside a small town called Cobourg which has a population of 18,000 people. Even our community has committed to turning the lights off on March 31, 2008. Other cities across the world have also joined in.

You can visit the following web site and see who is participating. As of now over 1500 businesses, 17 major cities and 31,000 individuals have signed up. Just doing a quick Google search reveals numerous cities and businesses that are participating but haven’t registered on the WWF site.

Some are saying that the effect was minimal and this is a waste of time. I think it’s an amazing idea and can’t wait to be part of a global movement, and hear what impact we all have on March 29th. It may seem like a small, insignificant amount of time, however, I challenge you to look at this as one step toward something that is bigger than any one of us, an opportunity to unite with people all around the planet for a common cause.

How Can You or Your Business Join In?
Do a quick search on the WWF web site or Google to see if your city is participating. If you don’t see your city listed and you haven’t heard anything in your community about Earth Hour, you can download some brochures and media information from the WWF web site. These can be easily forwarded by email to your local newspaper, TV station, mayor, etc.

There are also free communication packets for businesses to download and share with their employees and their clients about Earth Hour activities. The packet also includes the Earth Hour logo, web banners, FAQ, messaging, summary, and branding guidelines.