Friday 30 March 2012

Switch off tomorrow for Earth Hour


GEORGE NEWS - At 20:30 tomorrow, Saturday, 31 March millions of people across the globe will switch off their lights for one hour to support Earth Hour.

The largest environmental event in history, Earth Hour is organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and aims to raise awareness of climate change and unite the Earth's population to take action.

It's a reminder to us all that we only have one planet Earth; and it's an urgent message that we want to reduce the impact our energy systems have on our planet.

Earth Hour sees people and organisations from all walks of life turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness around the need to take action on climate change.

The first Earth Hour was held in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2 000 businesses took a stand against climate change.

Last year, 135 countries switched off their lights, including iconic buildings and landmarks in London, Sydney, America and across the Asia Pacific. This year, the WWF hopes to set a new record - but they need your help.

First world countries that have a smaller carbon footprint than South Africa have been taking the lead in this venture. It is not the government that has to take the lead here, it is the responsibility of every citizen to take the lead and set the example.
The problem here is that specific regions are suffering from pollution due to large coal burning power stations; and ESCOM is planning to build another three, one of which will be the world's largest.

One hour of residential blackout will lessen the load on our power grid.

- George Herald

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