Earth Hour – 28th March 2009, 8:30pm

When it comes to current issues, especially right now, we’re bombarded with news about the recession, the economic down turn, the credit crunch, the blackmail politics…. Weather’s going crazy the world over, but nobody seems to care, because right now, all people can think about is to find a way to make or save money. Well, no matter how much money you have, if you don’t take responsibility and care about the one and only planet we have to live on, what’s the use of having millions when the world we know of is falling apart?

Snow fall at Buckingham Palace

Snow has fallen in London for the first time in October since 1934 and heavy snows are falling even now and it’s disrupting travel and costing the government millions of pounds. Australia’s bushfire death toll is at 181 (on Feb 10) and rising, one of the worst disaster Australia’s had in 110 years. In East Malaysia, Chinese New Year was ushered in together with flood waters, the worst the state has seen in almost 40 years. And did you guys see the thunderstorm this afternoon around 4-5pm? I was indoors and seriously, I was scared.  

Bush Fires in Australia

I used to be very ignorant and I’m sure a lot of you are unaware as well, you think, well, I don’t chop down trees, I don’t throw my rubbish out the window, I get electricity from turning on switches so i’m not really contributing to global warming. Well, guess what, every single thing you do, you emit a carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is what Wikipedia defines as ‘a total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or products.’ And climate change, or global warming is ‘the result of a build up of greenhouse gases (GHG), chiefly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere.’

Floods in Sarawak

Almost everything we do and have emits carbon dioxide, even breathing! The car we drive, the electricity we use so freely comes from a plant which burns fuel. Indirectly, the clothes we wear comes from a factory which uses tonnes of electricity, the rice we eat comes from a field which was burned to fertilize the soil, etc. 

Typical Electricity Plant

So, why should we care right? I’ve even heard some people say that, you know what…the world’s gonna end either ways so let me do whatever I want now! How selfish does that sound? How about the future generation? Your future children and grandchildren? Don’t you want them to live as comfortably as you have? And enjoy all of Earth’s precious gifts like you have? We can actually do our part in reducing our GHG emissions and reverse climate change. 

Future Generation – the United Colours Jolie-Pitt Family

How? Well, there are plenty of ways, and one that’s really easy is to switch off unnecessary switches, e.g. when you’re not in the room, switch off your lights, shut down your computer instead of putting it to sleep, switch off all standby items when you go to sleep at night – Astro, water heater. Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint that way, you’ll also save on your electricity bills! And to kick start your switching off habit, why not join the rest of the world in switching off your lights and everything else you can switch off for an hour starting 8:30pm on the 28th March 2009! 

Earth Hour started off in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and in 2008, it went global and almost 50 million people switched off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness for an hour.

This year, Malaysia will be apart of this initiative and hopes to drive a least 5 million individuals, corporation and building owners to switch off their lights on the 28th March at 8:30pm. KL Tower has already pledged their support and so has 8TV! We’ve reduced our broadcasting time by an hour since the 1st March and will be halting transmission for the first time in history, on the 28th March from 8:30-9:30pm, to send a message across to our viewers that reversing climate change is possible.

So pledge your support to Earth Hour, click on the above switch and sign up. Or log on to www.earthhour.org.my to find out more. Tell your family, friends, colleagues. Spread the word. If you’re a business owner, close your business for an hour, if you own a building, switch off all the lights for an hour. Let’s see KL in darkness for just an hour, an hour to make a statement, to make a stand that we are united in saving this planet.

 

Love, Bel