EARTH HOUR - 7.30pm to 8.30pm - Saturday March 31, 2007
Earth Hour is a fabulous opportunity for you and your family to do
something about climate change. On one night, in one hour, more will be
done, more will be demonstrated, and more will be learned than through a
hundred 'talk-fests'. And you can help make it happen.
What is Earth Hour?
It sounds simple, but it is very, very dramatic. At 7.30pm on March 31st
2007, we will be encouraging companies, government departments,
individuals and families to turn off their lights for just one hour. If
we meet our objectives during the first Earth Hour, the savings in green
house gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 75,000 medium sized
cars off the road for one whole year! Now that's something worth doing.
Why?
The facts are alarmingly clear:
* The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have
occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record keeping
began.
* More than 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will have been destroyed
by 2050 if carbon dioxide emissions aren't reduced. (WWF-International)
* One million species worldwide are facing extinction due to
climate change.
But not everybody listens to the facts. Earth Hour is your opportunity
to demonstrate how a simple change in our way of life could change, and
help save, our planet.
The goals of Earth Hour:
Households : Most of us use unnecessary electricity. Appliances on
standby, old style light bulbs, lights left on when we're not using
them. Earth Hour will help us all to realise just how simply we can make
a dramatic impact upon global warming (and our own power bills). We will
see it in action.
Companies : We want companies to be involved. If every company turned off its lights when the buildings weren't in use, and
combined it with energy saving technology, we would save between 2 and 4
million tonnes of greenhouse gasses every year. Earth Hour will show
companies just how easy that is.
To make it an annual event : Out of the 8,766 hours in a year, let's
give one back to the earth.
What you can do:
Sign up to Earth Hour and Pledge to turn off your lights on March 31st
from 7.30pm to 8.30pm by logging onto www.earthhour.org
You will receive all the information you need to make Earth Hour a great
success (and to cut your own energy bills in the long term). Pledging is
free.
Get off standby : Turn off all the electronic equipment and appliances
in your home that are not being used or are on standby. Computers,
televisions, stereo equipment, phone chargers, DVD or video equipment.
Tell a friend : Spread the word about earth Hour by involving your
friends, family and workmates. Get them to pledge at earthhour.org and
most importantly, turn off the lights at 7.30pm Saturday 31 March 2007.
Spread the word - Once you have signed up for Earth Hour tell a friend;
spread the word at work; tell your boss; mention it at school, at your
local sports club or society group, you can even run it past your
neighbours!
Make it an event. Get your family and friends to switch off their lights as well;
Explore your backyard by torchlight;
Have fun with sparklers; or just do something non-electric as a family;
Have a picnic-at-dusk; pretend you are camping; or have a candlelight dinner.
For more info on Earth Hour, check out www.earthhour.org
EARTH HOUR. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Labels: earth, energy, energy savings, extinction, global warming, greenhouse gas
