5 Reasons Why Earth Hour is Important

Posted on March 19, 2016

With all the excitement for Earth Hour coming up, you may be wondering what impact turning off the lights for one hour could really make. Well, Earth Hour is about so much more than saving energy. Here are 5 reasons why Earth Hour is so powerful:

1. It Promotes action: Many countries combine their Earth hour campaigns with encouragement for eco-action. Earth Hour’s official organizing foundation, The WWF, recorded over 6 hundred thousand green actions during the 2015 countdown. The WWF also uses Earth Hour to push for legislative changes, and support their other projects, including renewable energy growth and sustainable agriculture. Over 200 ambassadors raised their voices to change climate change during last year’s Earth Hour.

2. It’s Global: Earth Hour started in Sydney Australia in 2007, but as of 2015 it has become the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment with 172 countries going dark at 8:30 pm local time.  

3. We can See it: Turning off the lights makes a powerful visual statement. Last year, over 10 thousand landmarks and monuments “disappeared” including the Eiffel Tower, the London Eye and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

4. It Creates Awareness: The hype leading up to Earth Hour spreads the word about environmental issues. Last year, 82 million Earth Hour videos were watched between January and March, and 7.8 million digital Earth Hour interactions took place between March 27th and 29th alone (that’s a lot of tweets!).

5. It Brings People Together: No one likes to sit alone in the dark! This is why over 70 thousand Earth Hour events checked into digital maps last year. Whether you get together with friends and family, or join a community event, Earth Hour reminds us we need to come together to solve climate change.

We have the perfect way to celebrate Earth Hour this Saturday, March 19th, in #yyc! Join us at The City of Calgary’s Unplugged celebration on Saint Patrick’s Island at 7pm. We’ll be there, among the festivities, making a non-toxic lip balm at our craft station. Come say hi!

For more Earth Hour stats check out the 2015 Earth Hour Global Stats Report. How will you celebrate Earth Hour tonight?!?!?