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Earth Hour |
Making a difference On March 28th, 2009, millions and hopefully billions of people will show the world that they care about the health of our planet and our environment by turning off their lights for one hour, from 8:30pm-9:30pm in their respective local time! This special hour of darkness is called Earth Hour. Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, where over two million people cooperated with the idea to turn off their lights and certain other electrical appliances for one hour! Not only did many people turn off the lights in their homes, but many local businesses, companies, and even public or government organizations turned off theirs, too! The initiative to turn off the lights for one hour was helpful in a few ways. Using too much electrical energy causes harmful gasses and chemicals to be released into the environment, which many people agree is leading to Global Warming. Global Warming is the term for the potentially dangerous changes that are happening to the environment as the result of worldwide temperatures slowly getting warmer. By using little to no electricity for one hour, the two million Australians who participated in the 2007 Earth Hour saved extra gasses from being released into the environment! The people who took part also probably learned that it can be easy and even fun to use less electricity! Equally importantly, the people who took part in the 2007 Earth Hour showed the world that they cared about Global Warming and wanted their government as well as world leaders to make changes toward a healthier environment. Because the 2007 Earth Hour was such a success, millions more people in lots of other countries participated in a second Earth Hour in March 2008 – approximately 50 million people in about 35 countries joined in by turning out their lights! For 2009, over 80 countries have already agreed to participate! The Secretary General of the United Nations is even encouraging people to get involved this year so that when world leaders get together to make new decisions about the needs for fast action against Global Warming and movement towards cleaner forms of energy, the voices of all the Earth Hour participants can be heard!
Ask your parents and family if you can all get involved in this year’s Earth Hour! It’s probably easier than you think to spend one hour without lights. What are some fun activities you can think of that don’t involve electricity? Instead of watching TV, you can play games, sing songs, or tell stories with your family! You can use candlelight around the house and put on a show of shadow-puppets! You can also spend time outside looking at the stars, or have the grown-ups help you build a campfire in the yard! Get your friends involved, too, by inviting them over for an Earth Hour Party!! If you can, take your participation beyond turning out the lights. Unplug as many appliances as you can, such as DVD players or alarm clocks. Even when you aren’t using them, these machines use up energy by simply being plugged in. If your parents own a business or work in an office, ask them to get their workplace involved, too! Many stores leave lights on at night to illuminate their signs, but turning these out can help save lots of energy! Don’t forget to document your experiences, too. Draw pictures or write about what it’s like to leave the lights off for one evening, and then share your cool experiences with others to encourage them to join in the next time around!
Turn ‘em off!