Last night, I decided to be part of the Earth Hour celebrations taking place in 4,000 cities in 88 countries across the globe.
One by one, cities, companies, major landmarks, and individuals were turning out their lights in hope for a better future. Earlier in the day, I clicked to video links and watched fellow humans across the globe count down to the darkness and celebrate together. It was almost like watching New Year’s celebrations on TV in anticipation of your own.
As usual, we had to wait our turn! The West Coast of North America was the last to “flick off”. My boyfriend and I spent the evening at a local bar called the Garibaldi Lift Co. (GLC). It’s a trendy après-ski bar that hosts a variety of industry events, live bands and theme parties. Organized by a Whistler sustainability group called Hilltrip, this Earth Hour at the GLC was by donation.
3-2-1 “Happy Earth Hour!”
At 8:30pm the GLC turned off all lights (the bathrooms included) and we were surrounded by candlelight. It’s kind of cool and even a little romantic – in a quirky way – sipping a pint or going pee under the orange glow of candlelight.
Considering that the number of participating cities grew to 4,000 in 2009 from 400 in 2008, I can only hope that next year’s Earth Hour becomes an even bigger event. Think New Year’s, Eve but instead of vowing to lose weight or exercise more, we make vow to save our planet. Let’s hope, that unlike New Year’s, we actually stick to our resolutions.
There’s something inspiring about a global movement that spans generations, cultures and countries. After all, in a world where we differ in so many ways from one another, how could we possibly unite?
Earth Hour is a peaceful and poignant message from humanity to those who govern us: “The Earth matters and we must save it!”
This just proves that it only takes one person or a small group to change the world. Whoever came up with this amazing idea in Sydney, Australia in 2007 must be smiling today.
Cheers to those who participated in Earth Hour 2009. And if you missed it this year, don’t worry. 2010 will be bigger than ever!
After all, it’s just one more reason to celebrate life and who wouldn’t want to do that?
