Toronto to cut-off the power for Earth Hour

TORONTO, Ont – Canadians will be joining millions of people across the world Saturday night in a collective effort to battle climate change and raise environmental awareness.

The lights will be switched-off around the globe, and here in Toronto, for an hour at 8:30 p.m. as a celebration of the fourth annual Earth Hour in Canada.

Earth Hour was started five years ago in Australia to raise awareness and aid in the war against international climate change. The hour-long break from electricity is important, but organizers form the World Wildlife Foundation say the real hope is people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.

“The big goal of this isn’t power saved, it always makes an impact, I think it’s somewhere between a five and ten per cent impact on energy usage, but the bigger goal is participation,” said Tom Heintzman of Bullfrog Power.

Josh Laugrin of WWF Canada told 680News the possibilities are endless when it comes to celebrating Earth Hour.

“How you celebrate Earth Hour is only constrained by your imagination, people do it by candle-lit dinners, there’s playing board games by flashlight, just about any way you can imagine celebrating things in the dark, people are doing it,” Laugrin said.

The CN Tower, the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower are among the global landmarks that will go dark at 8:30 p.m.

Approximately 131 countries will be taking part of this year’s efforts to raise awareness of ways to be more energy efficient.

When Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour.

Only a year later Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating.

Last year, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action.

Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe, and Africa to the Americas switched off.

People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and came together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common, our planet.

For more information on Earth Hour, click here.

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