Every year, on the last Saturday of March, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, millions across the globe switch off the lights to spread awareness about sustainability and climate change. This hour is known as ‘Earth Hour'. It is an annual tradition started by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to encourage individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off all non-essential electric lights for one hour to symbolise their commitment to the planet.
This year too, millions of people from across the world will come together to light candles and celebrate unity. It will be the first-ever Earth Hour “Virtual Spotlight” this year.
This year WWF has invited people to share the must-watch videos to raise awareness that will be posted on all the social media pages of earthhour.org. “This year, we invite you to spread the same message and re-create the same unmissable sight online by taking part in our first-ever Earth Hour Virtual Spotlight.”
The symbolic lights-out event started in Sydney in 2007 when the WWF encouraged 2.2 million people to turn off the lights for one hour to support action on climate change.
Ever since, landmarks such as Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, Buckingham Palace, the Colosseum and Edinburgh Castle also have switched off the lights for an hour.
“Earth Hour is open-source and we welcome everyone, anyone, to take part and help amplify our mission to unite people to protect our planet,” reads a statement on the official website.
Earth Hour is now one of the world's largest grassroots movements for the environment. Earth Hour engages people in more than 180 countries and territories, switching off their lights to show support for our planet.
