26th Mar 2017 09:03:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

      In an effort to draw attention to protecting the planet and raise awareness about climate change, Earth Hour was celebrated on Saturday from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time across the world. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the event, which saw millions of people plunging into darkness for an hour. People from 7,000 cities in 172 countries participated in the event.

Across the world, many iconic structures, buildings and sky-scrapers participated in the event as well by dimming their lights.

The idea for Earth Hour was first conceived by the World Wildlife Federation in Australia in 2005 in response to scientific data revealing the devastating impact of climate change. The environmental advocacy group teamed up with advertising agency Leo Burnett and came up with the idea of a large-scale 'lights-out' event. Back then, the project was called "The Big Flick."

The inaugural Earth Hour was held in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 at7:30 p.m. About 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses across the city participated. It was deemed such a success that there were plans to make Earth Hour a national event in Australia. Those plans were quickly scrapped once organizers realized how much international interest the campaign had drummed up. Earth Hour went global the following year with 371 cities and towns in more than 35 countries taking part.

Since 2009 the campaign has inspired individual, governments and corporation to move towards responsible consumption and conservation of energy in India. The campaign has received unprecedented support and participation by governments, armed forces, public and private sector companies and individuals in the past.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our times. We must use this event to help raise awareness about energy conservation and to pledge to reduce, re-use and re-cycle energy by planting more trees, avoid using plastic bags. As global citizens, we must take earth hour beyond an hour and adopt energy saving measures in our daily lives. 

 


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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