27 Mar 2010

Earth Hour tonight


Today Saturday at 8.30pm, the hope is that a billion people around the world will switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about climate change. People from 115 countries are already participating. Big Ben will be switching off and even the legendary neon sign in London's Piccadilly Circus will go off for only the fourth time since the second world war. It would be great if as many people as poss in Stroud also participated. See more at: http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/

Last year I helped publicise this event with Stroud Valleys Project - see here - more people look set to participate this year - although with huge companies like Coca Cola sponsoring the event we have to wonder?? A closer look though shows Coca Cola are indeed improving matters - still a long long way to go but they are putting in place actions to tackle the climate.....but do we really need this sugary caffeine laden drink with all it's promises that Coke is it??? Do we understand it is not the real thing?

Research shows that it is still possible to avoid the worst impacts of climate change by measures such as rapid development of clean energy production and stopping tropical deforestation. Coca Cola has to be part of the solution - as we all do. Switching off sends a message that we want action.

1 comment:

Philip said...

Earth Hour said:

On Saturday night WWF estimates that over a billion people across the world united in switching off their lights for one hour to show they care about climate change. Earth Hour's success is down to you - individuals and families switching off at home, or companies large and small, local government, schools and community groups. And of course thanks to all WWF's regular supporters and volunteers. The statistics are still coming in, but the latest news is that over 4,000 cities and towns in 126 countries took part in WWF's Earth Hour 2010. Global landmarks switching off included Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Great Pyramids, Rome's Coliseum and Forbidden City in China. In the UK, other landmarks included Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, the National Gallery and National Theatre and Wembley Stadium Arch in London; the Senedd, The Wales Millennium Centre, and Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; Stormont, City Hall and the Wheel in Belfast, Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish Parliament, Wallace Monument and the Falkirk Wheel, to name just a few. Earth Hour was all about spreading the message that we care about our world, and we received great support from global and UK press, TV, radio and the online community. A big thank-you from everyone at WWF for signing up and taking part in this years’ event. It's been an enormous success - just take a look at the highlights, news, photos and film coverage from the night at wwf.org.uk/earthhour.