Earth Hour: Lights going out around the World

Tomorrow evening Gerald Mak is going for a walk. At 8 p.m., the Grade 12 student will turn off all the lights and unplug all the power bars in his family's house, cutting off every energy-munching TV and computer. Then, he says, he'll "take a walk in the park for one hour."

Aside from being student school trustee and a nominee for a Green Toronto Award, Mr. Mak, who attends Earl Haig Secondary School in North York, is one of more than 240,000 people and 17,000 businesses all over the globe registered to take part in Earth Hour, an initiative that calls for reducing power consumption for 60 minutes. And many more are expected to join in.

In Toronto, Mr. Mak joins thousands of people and the managers of more than 80 buildings, including landmarks such as the CN Tower, Fairmont Royal York, the Air Canada Centre and major office towers, who plan to hit the lights tomorrow night.

Tomorrow marks the second annual Earth Hour to raise awareness of the effect of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world.

The idea, originally spawned in Australia, is to get individuals and institutions to turn off their lights and minimize their power usage between 8 and 9 p.m. The sheer awe of seeing a whole city go dim when taking concerted action will inspire everybody to work together to curb energy use and, thus, carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Or so organizers hope.

The objectives of Earth Hour are laudable but, this being the industrialized world bent on tokenism and protecting modern conveniences at all costs, don't be surprised to see a lot of people switch lights off for an hour on Saturday night and just assume they've done their part. By Monday, they'll be back in their cars driving - alone - to work, where they'll log in to a computer that has been on all weekend.

LET'S dispel some misconceptions. Turning off lights and appliances tonight will not in itself do anything much to stem the rise of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

Earth Hour organisers acknowledge this. Cutting energy consumption for an hour is a symbolic step. Like all symbolism, it is easy to mock.

At 8 p.m. Saturday citizens of Atlanta will join millions of people around the world in turning off nonessential lights for one hour. Earth Hour is a bold statement in support of action on climate change. On this historic evening, the city of Atlanta will demonstrate to the world how, by working together, each of us can begin to make a positive impact on this global issue.

Many will hear about this initiative and question why we are doing it. And while people may disagree about issues involving the environment, this event will at the very least open a dialogue and let us air our opinions for discussions on solutions for environmental problems we face today and in the future.

It also gives us an opportunity to talk with friends, families and co-workers about ways we can work together to conserve energy and natural resources. One of the goals of Earth Hour is to have participants commit to longer-term benefits, such as replacing older lights bulbs throughout their homes with highly efficient compact fluorescents, and to commit to reducing energy consumption on a daily basis.

Earth Houris an international event that asks households and businesses to turnoff their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one houron the evening of 29 March at 8PM local time to promote electricity conservation and thus lower carbon emissions.

It is promoted by World Wide Fund for Nature Australia (WWF), an environmental lobby group, and the Sydney Morning Herald. The first Earth Hour was held in Sydney, Australia between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on 31 March 2007.The 2007 Earth Hour is estimated to have cut Sydney's mains electricityconsumption by between 2.1% and 10.2% for that hour, with as many as2.2 million people taking part. A second Earth Hour, in 2008, isplanned to be an international event held in Sydney, many partnercities, and individuals around the world participating.

Earth Hour may see people switch off their lights for just one hour on Saturday night, but organisers believe the environmental message will be everlasting.

The event, in which some of the world's major cities will be temporarily plunged into darkness, is hoped to spotlight the global need to reduce carbon emissions.
Organisers say the initiative, which started in Sydney last year, will be observed in 35 nations and across 370 cities, towns and councils worldwide.
It will see lights switched off in major buildings and public places for an hour from 8pm on March 29, while householders are urged to break out low-carbon emitting candles.