EARTH HOUR 2017

Switch off to join the future

In 2017, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is celebrating 10 years of Earth Hour and 10 years of progress on tackling climate change.

Earth Hour launched in Sydney in 2007, with 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses participating in the ‘lights off’ event. Just one year later, Earth Hour became a global phenomenon with over 35 countries, and an estimated 50-100 million people participating. 

2017 will mark the 10th anniversary of Earth Hour as a global phenomenon. It is now celebrated in over 172 countries and over 7,000 cities and towns worldwide. The symbolic hour has grown into the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment, with beyond-the-hour projects and initiatives happening throughout the year.

In Australia, Earth Hour is something that really brings communities together, with 1 in every 4 Australians taking part. In 2016, millions of Australians took part in Earth Hour to show their support for a low pollution, clean energy future.

On Saturday, 25th March, switch off to support progress 

for the next generation. 

Switch off to #JoinTheFuture. 

EARTH HOUR MARCH 28

EARTH  HOUR  EVENT  GRAFTON

On Saturday 28 an Earth Hour event, organised by Clarence Valley Council and the Grafton Cathedral, will be held in the Cathedral and its grounds from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm.

The program includes speakers and other entertainment.  The finale will be a Global Orchestral concert of Holst's The Planets which is being live-streamed from the Sydney Opera House onto a screen at the Cathedral.

Program:
7.00               Welcome to Country
7.05 - 7.20     Us Mob Grafton Primary School indigenous dancers
7.20 - 7.25      Introduction to Earth Hour
7.25 - 7.35      Earth Hour Ambassador Cate McQuillen
7.35 - 7.40      Tilly Mash
7.40 - 7.50       Combined Clarence Valley Conservatorium & South Grafton Primary Choir
7.50 - 8.00       Cowgirl chef's Love Food Hate Waste message
8.00 - 8.15       Grafton Primary School Choir
8.25                 Count down to Earth Hour and lights out
8.30 - 9.30       Global Orchestra
9.35                 Close

   
 

EARTH HOUR 2014

The idea that has captured our imaginations and inspired the globe will soon be with us again.

Earth Hour 2014 will take place from 8.30 to 9.30 pm on Saturday March 29.

Since 2007 Earth Hour has grown from a one city occurrence into the largest mass participation event on the planet.

In March 2007  in Sydney  2.2 million people and 2100 local businesses took part.  From this humble beginning the idea has gone global.  The symbolic act of turning the lights out for an hour has been adopted by around 7000 cities and the people of 152 nations.  An estimated 2 billion people worldwide are keen participants, and here at home one in every three Australians is taking part.

The message of Earth Hour has always been about much more than 60 minutes of power saving.  It has inspired great environmental actions – the President of Botswana commiting to planting 1 million trees, the Girl Guides who changed 135,000 light bulbs across USA, the people-powered Earth Hour campaign in Argentina which saw the creation of a 34,000 square km marine protected area that more than tripled the size of Argentine seas under protection.

This year WWF Australia and The Australian Geographic are together promoting a specific message for Earth Hour.  They are explaining one of the reasons we need to act on climate change – to save our Great Barrier Reef before it is too late.  By 2012 this World Heritage listed icon had already lost half of its coral cover.  Scientists are warning that if we don't act now, the effects of climate change on the reef could be irreversible by 2030.

On the evening of Saturday March 29 Australians from all walks of life will gather at events big and small in cities and towns around the country.

In Grafton an Earth Hour family event is being organised.  It will start at 7 pm in the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral.  Details of this inspiring event will be published in the weeks ahead.

            - Stan Mussared

This article was published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on March 10, 2014.

 

EARTH HOUR 2012

Earth Hour is at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday 31^st March.  As in the last five years, people around the world are being encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour.  This is a small symbolic act with a huge environmental message that unites millions of people around the planet.

It began in Sydney in 2007 with thousands of people switching off their lights for one hour indicating their concern about climate change. Earth Hour has since grown to encompass 135 countries, involving hundreds of millions of people in more than 5,215 cities across the globe.

Some of the ever-growing list of global icons that go dark for Earth Hour each year are the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Beijing's Forbidden City and the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza.

Earth Hour is becoming a spectacular display of global unity and an indication of what we can achieve if we all take responsibility for looking after our planet.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says," Earth Hour is the moment in which we say 'yes', Planet Earth is a home we share with a myriad of precious species.  Earth Hour is a universal message of hope and action, a moment driven by the collective will of the world, for the world."

Many of our fellow creatures are going to be adversely affected by climate change and by our actions in other areas.  Earth Hour is a powerful reminder that we humans are the ones who should be doing everything in our power to prevent loss of their habitat and reduction of their general well-being.

As in previous years, we are being encouraged to "go beyond the hour" in the days, weeks, months and years which lie ahead, and, motivated by our concerns as individuals and groups, do what we can for the welfare of life on earth.

As we turn the lights out, let us consider how we can breathe life into our role as Earth Citizens, and into this statement from the Earth Charter – "We must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying  ourselves with the whole Earth Community as well as our local community."

        

    - S.  Mussared