Earth Hour to be marked Saturday
Posted March 22, 2013 7:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Earth Hour will be held around the world on Saturday and Toronto is one of the 7,000 global cities participating in the climate change initiative.
Each city will dim its lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time.
Toronto was the first Canadian city to announce its participation after the inaugural event in Australia — in 2008, one year after the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) held the first Earth Hour Down Under.
By 2012, the WWF said 511 Canadian cities and towns participated in the event event — the most ever — with more than 100,000 Canadians signing the Earth Hour Pledge on the WWF website.
However, participation in Toronto has been lackluster lately, with only 6.8 per cent reduction in our power compared to a typical Saturday in 2012. Toronto’s best record was 15 per cent.
Toronto Hydro has been reminding customers this week to power down on Saturday, and will be tweeting during Earth Hour using the Twitter handle @TorontoHydro about how the city is doing.
“There’s an interest how much load has been taken off the grid,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Link.
In Toronto, the exterior lights of the CN Tower will be dimmed for that hour.
At the Air Canada Centre, the lights will be dimmed as the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Boston Bruins.
The World Wildlife Fund is hosting an Earth Hour celebration in Roncesvalles Village, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The Bayview Village Assocation will host a Night Sky presentation and an Earth Hour Walk beginning at Forest Grove United Church at 7:30 p.m.
With files from The Canadian Press
What is your community doing during Earth Hour. Share your events in the comments below.
