Does Earth Hour Really Make a Difference?

Does Earth Hour Really Make a Difference?

The short answer is yes, Earth Hour makes a big difference.

When Earth Hour started in March of 2007 in Sydney, Australia, no one knew the phenomenon that it would become. And now just eight years later, what started in one city has spread to nearly 7,000 cities and towns worldwide. Today, nearly 2.2 million people globally turn their lights out in a sign of solidarity. Earth Hour represents the need for action on global climate change. The event makes a big difference and you can too.

The global movement, started by World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), encourages individuals, businesses, and entire communities to turn their non-essential lights out for one hour, on March 28, 2015 at 8:30-9:30 pm local time.

“Climate change is not just the issue of the hour, it’s the issue of our generation,” Sudhanshu Sarronwala, Chair, Board of Directors, Earth Hour Global said in a statement. “Earth Hour is the world’s most enduring people’s movement focused on climate. The lights may go out for one hour, but the actions of millions throughout the year will inspire the solutions required to change climate change.”

While Earth Hour is symbolic, the event is also about taking action beyond the hour. In the past, Earth Hour has helped launch meaningful projects including garnering the support to help pass a Senate law that protected a 3.4 million hectare marine sanctuary in Argentina and starting the Earth Hour protected forest in Uganda. It’s about getting involved in an event near you by going to the Earth Hour tracker.

WWF’s website has a crowd sourcing and crowd funding tool called Earth Hour Blue, which allows you to get involved in events worldwide by choosing a country and an interest. If your passion is protecting whales in the Arctic, get involved in WWF’s movement to protect America’s Arctic from oil and gas drilling or maybe you want to see 24/7 protection for tigers in Singapore or clean energy for communities in India. Whatever your interest, you can get involved and help fund projects.

“Earth Hour shows us what we can achieve together. From creating a forest in Uganda to lighting up entire villages with solar power in India and the Philippines, the power of the crowd to make change happen is phenomenal,” added Sarronwala. “With Earth Hour, every light switch turned off is hope for climate action turned on.”

No matter what change you want to see environmentally, Earth Hour is an all encompassing tool to get things done. It’s about mobilizing efforts and then catapulting that energy into real change. Wanna watch Earth Hour live? You can watch the event unfold across 24 different time zones.

If you’ve never participated before, this is the year to get involved in Earth Hour 2015.

 Related on EcoSalon

10 Infographics for Earth Day

Berkeley Approves Global Warming Warning Labels on Gas Pumps

Global Warming in Siberia Causes Mysterious Mega Craters

Image: Adam Sundana