Aside from leap years of course, every year holds 8760 hours… one of those hours some people at the WWF decided to call Earth Hour which we had from 8.30 to 9.30 pm UK time on Saturday.
It’s supposed to be an hour which encourages individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off their lights for one single hour as a symbol of their commitment to the planet.
However, too many of us are still not taking this event seriously. One hour doesn’t really make a difference. Why bother?
The world is facing a climate crisis that threatens the very existence of life as we know it. Rising temperatures, melting ice caps and extreme weather events are all consequences of many of our unsustainable habits and actions.
Of course, it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of such biblical problems, but Earth Hour is an opportunity for us to take action and show that we care as part of a growing group that is raising awareness about the environment and encouraging other people to think about how they can reduce their carbon footprint.
Turning off our lights for one hour may seem insignificant, but it is one hour where we can reduce our energy consumption and demonstrate that reducing our own ecological footprint is as easy as pulling your finger out to turn off a light.
Earth hour hereby becomes a powerful symbol of our willingness to change our behaviour and make more conscious choices. It’s about inspiring others to join us in taking action.
Every journey starts with the first step as they say: Imagine if everyone who participated in Earth Hour used this as a small and achievable starting point to make more changes in their daily lives, such as using energy-efficient light bulbs or turning off appliances when they’re not in use. The cumulative impact of these small changes is enormous. Just out of one hour, an estimated total of 10 million kilowatts of electricity could be saved globally.
Earth Hour is a call to action for all of us to take responsibility. So if you missed your earth hour on Saturday, no problem: Mark another hour on another day as an opportunity to make changes in your own life, to raise awareness by talking about it with your family and friends, to reflect together on your energy consumption and to educate others about the importance of environmental sustainability, and to show your support for a better future for our planet.
Remember, it’s not just about one hour, it’s about the message and what we do with it moving forward to change our behaviour in the long term.
