What Is Earth Hour?

          Earth Hour is an international event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Leo Burnett. The first Earth Hour event took place in Sydney on 31 March 2007, more than 2.2 million residents and 2000 businesses participated by turning off all non-essential lights for the one hour. Following Sydney’s lead, in 2008 many other cities around the world has joined the event.

        Earth Hour is a global movement which unit people to protect our planet. Earth Hour encourages individuals, businesses and governments around the world to carry out positive actions for the environment, and celebrate their commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for one designated hour. It is held on the last Saturday in March annually. It will start in the evening at 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m., according to respective countries’ local time zone. This year, Earth Hour was celebrated on 23 March 2013 (Saturday) at 8.30pm. Earth hour 2014 is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during participants' local time.

        The idea of Earth Hour came from a think tank initiated by Earth Hour Executive Director and Co-Founder, Andy Ridley. As a result, the formation of a partnership between WWF Australia, Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media is to address the climate change issue. In 2007, there was still a degree of skepticism and denial about the issue of climate change. Earth Hour came as the inspiration to rally people to the reality of climate change and start a dialogue about what we as individuals can do to help address the greatest problem facing our planet today. Leo Burnett partnered with WWF to promote the idea and help make the campaign a reality in Sydney, a campaign which has now gone beyond climate change to symbolize the growing global pursuit of a better, healthier world.

        The aim for Earth Hour is to encourage global community to participate in the chances and challenges of creating sustainable world. It is also to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. Its objective is to get communities involved in a simple action which is turning off lights, which will make a difference to a sustainable future. By switching off your lights for Earth Hour you are recognizing and celebrating your commitment to do something more for the planet that goes beyond the hour.

        Earth Hour is not a black out. It is a voluntary action by participants to show commitment to an act of change that benefits the planet. Earth Hour believes that the symbolism of the hour is incredibly important in bringing people and communities together across the globe. But our aspiration from the beginning was to go far beyond the hour itself. In 2012, Earth Hour launched I Will If You Will, a platform to incentivize and inspire individuals to share their commitment to the planet with their friends, colleagues, leaders and networks. Earth Hour also encourages and promotes many other initiatives around the world, including the Earth Hour City Challenge, the Earth Hour People’s Projects and many national and local actions that take the campaign beyond the hour.

     Earth Hour only asks people to turn off the non-essential lights for one hour - not lights that affect public safety. There are a few lights we can say with certainty that should not be turned off, including safety lights in public spaces, lights for aviation guidance, traffic lights, security lights, etc. We ask people to use common sense. Before you turn off any lights for public spaces Earth Hour recommends you check with local officials or community centers. In your own home, use common sense with respect to safety. Earth Hour is also a celebration of the planet so it’s important to enjoy the moment in a safe environment. If you plan on burning candles during Earth Hour, make sure you use 100% beeswax candles or soy candles, which are gentler on our planet - smoke free, non-toxic and non-allergenic. They are also made of natural products, not petroleum-based materials, so they are effectively carbon neutral. 

            Earth Hour wants everyone to be absolutely safe and never to turn off any lights or power that would in any way compromise the safety of any individual in a private or public space. So please put safety first when deciding what lights to turn off during your participation. For Earth Hour’s broader I Will If You Will campaign, we will not support challenges that are not safe, not responsible or not respectful. So if it is dangerous, damaging or defamatory please think of others and think of something else for your challenge. We don’t encourage or endorse irresponsible behavior. Remember! Positive for the planet, not negative for life or limb.

        The standard Earth Hour '60' logo represents the 60 minutes of Earth Hour where we focus on the impact we are having on our planet and take positive action to address the environmental issues we face. For Earth Hour 2011 the ‘60+’ logo was introduced representing a commitment to add to Earth Hour a positive act for the planet that goes beyond the hour.

        There are also a few songs about Earth Hour. The songs are "Earth Hour" by Dash Berlin, WWF Earth Hour Anthem "When the lights go down" by Andrew Huang, "Better Day" performed at the first Earth Hour celebration in Sydney by Mitch Butler, 2013 Austrian Earth Hour Song "Earth Is Crying - Dry Her Tears", Phillipines Earth Hour Song "If we try" written by Reev Robledo, performed by Percival & Ninna Juan-del Mundo and "Turn out the Lights" by Australian artist, Elektra Vine.

        

        Earth Hour is not only an annual event, but it also culminates in an hour of inspiration held across the world towards the end of March each year. This year, 2013 sees the 7th Earth Hour. 

References :
Green Works – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle – Respect. Earth Hour. Retrieved from http://www.greenworks.co.za/earthhourpage.html
Earth Hour. Earth Hour FAQS. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org/page/media-centre/faqs