On March 28th, 2007, in Sydney, 2.2 million Australians made a statement when they switched off their lights for just an hour. What did they achieve? A whole new perspective on how much energy is being wasted everyday by billions of people worldwide. In 2008, a few other countries pledged their stand on reducing energy with 371 cities and 50 million people took part and took a stand on this matter.

This month, on March 28th 2009, we Malaysians, together with WWF are joining them to tell the world that we care about the environment. By switching off the lights for just one hour, you can make a difference and show that you care about the recent climate change. This is not a protest, not to worry, because we are just switching off to raise awareness.

By switching off, you get to reduce your energy and thus making sure that the future generation have a chance to experience the world like we do. Main Mission: Raising awareness to reduce Global Warming. This year, WWF is targeting 5 million Malaysians to take a pledge to switch off their lights. A few companies have made their pledge to switch off their lights. There will be the Genting Group, Digi, Media Prima and many others who have made a pledge to switch off their lights. So on March 28th, at 830pm, if you look up the sky, you will not see lights on KL tower, Mid Valley, Sunway Pyramid and a few other corporate companies. You will not also see the Genting logo. How awesome is that? Everyone taking a stand. Even 8tv is taking part and they are not showing any TV transmission from 830pm - 930pm.

What is Earth Hour?

Watch this video:

When is Earth Hour 2009?

Date: March 28th, 2009

Time: 830pm - 930pm(Your own city’s timing)

Duration: 1 Hour

Venue: Your homes/Offices/Restaurants/ANYWHERE!

What can you do on Earth Hour 2009?

Turn off all non-essential lights. If you’re at home, off all the lights for just an hour. Play hide and seek, have a BBQ dinner outside the house, have a campfire, take a night walk outside, go drinking with buddies in the dark(could be fun!). Be creative, just turn off the lights for an hour. You could also all go to a friends house and stay there so that you can reduce energy. Come to think about it, it is not that long, just an hour.

Other than that, you can also join KLites to celebrate Earth Hour at Capsquare. There will be a whole day event from 10am to 10pm with Eco Bazaars, performances and a charity walk organized by Capsquare. Joining fees would be RM10 and you would get a T shirt and an eco-friendly bag. All proceeds will go to the WWF funds.

All these, just for an hour?

Not really. Earth hour is just an exercise for everyone to realize that one by one, we can make a difference. We should not just rely on the authorities to save the world, we too can make a difference.

Some tips:

• Each day, off all non-essential lights. Like for example, if your house have ample of windows, open the curtains and let natural light come in during the day. Like that, we can save the energy from the light.
• I’m sure everyone of you go on unlimited broadband and we do switch on the computer on a daily basis. Some even leave it on at nights and during times when they are not using it (I am guilty of this!). Try to slowly weane off this habit by switching off the computer at night. I mean, no one’s using it anyway. If anyone wants to contact you, they can leave an email or send you an offline message.
• If you’re on a laptop, try to use the battery first and only charge it when necessary. Try not to leave the adaptor on the laptop for a long time. This could spoil your laptop and also you could save energy.

If you have any ideas share with us. We’ll credit your name of course.

What else can you do to support the cause?

Take a Pledge now!

Join the movement and make your vote count! Your involvement is vital so we can reach the target of 1 billion votes for Earth. Once you register we’ll send you newsletters with useful tips and a reminder for the big night.

Tweet it!

Say as much as you can about VOTE EARTH in 140 characters. In the countdown to Earth Hour, you can let others know about what you’re up to every step of the way. Make sure you include ‘#VOTEEARTH’ in all tweets so others can follow your messages.

Blog about it!

Start a conversation about VOTE EARTH. The results of the election will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009, so we need you to help get the world talking! Tag your blog so others can join in, with tags like ‘VOTE EARTH’, ‘Earth Hour’, ‘Copenhagen’, and ‘global warming’

Tell the whole world!

Let your friends know about VOTE EARTH. If you tell your friends, they’ll tell their friends, then they’ll tell their friends, and you’ll be responsible for getting a lot of votes for Earth. You can also set up email reminders for Earth Hour, and let your friends know about registering at earthhour.org/voteearth.

Click here to sign up and take the pledge!!

Take a pledge now and make a difference. sign up at the website and show the world that you’re switching off on 830pm by placing a banner on your blogs. Ask your friends to join the cause.

Switch off for a better tomorrow. With YOU on board this, we surely can make a difference!!

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