Yesterday, during a site visit as a member of LA County’s Green Leadership Award Program, I was told about the concept of “Earth Hour.” Someone told me that it had something to do with showing commitment to sustainability. Well, since I’m working on the SEA ordinance and land use planning related to sustainability, I thought I better educate myself.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website: “Every year, millions of people around the world join the Earth Hour movement and switch off their lights for one hour to show support for protecting our planet and stopping climate change. This year, Earth Hour is at 8:30 p.m. your local time on Saturday, March 24.”
The Earth Hour is a movement organized by the WWF annually to encourage folks – individuals, institutions, and businesses – to turn off non-essential electric lights for just one hour. It’s largely a symbolic gesture, turning off our lights, but it’s to make us all think and act, showing a small commitment to the planet.
I’m going to attempt to get my kids to turn off not just our lights for an hour, but their electronic devices as well. What are we going to do for an hour without electricity? Maybe go out enjoy the sounds of nature in the dark…
By: Patricia Hachiya, Supervising Regional Planner
