Green

About Earth Hour 2010

There are a few moments when people of no matter which race, sex, color and caste put aside, if only for an hour, for a noble cause. Yes, it is the Earth Hour, which is held on the last Saturday of March every year.

Since the city of Sydney started this in 2007, where non-essential lights and appliances were switched off for an hour, every major city in the world has joined in agreement to do the same every year since then. Of course, this is purely to create awareness towards the need to take action in respect to climate change and the growing rate of greenhouse emissions.

The Earth Hour in 2010, almost three years later, was no different. Held on March 27 between 8:30 to 9:30 PM at each city’s local time, this event crossed the one billion mark in terms of participants, making it the largest event to-date.

With about 126 countries joining the event in 2010, and over 214 ambassadors also supporting the cause, 45 corporations such as Accenture, Nokia Siemens and HSBC among several other big names have also joined in the effort towards this noble cause that has been organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Interestingly, some people point out (rather accurately) that the time to raise awareness in the world has been done a long time ago, and that it is time that larger steps are taken to deal with this growing problem effectively by harnessing support be it at the individual, community and business level.

And perhaps just in observance of a simple gesture, turning off a switch for an hour. That is all it takes.