Earth Hour 2009

Article from WWF website

It was literally Earth’s darkest hour – but the 7107 isles of the Philippines shone the brightest.

When the clock struck 8:30 on Saturday night, the 28th of March, over 15 million Filipinos in 650 major cities and towns switched off lights for 60 minutes to join the world in celebrating Earth Hour – an initiative of WWF, the Department of Energy, Green Army Network and SWITCH movement. Organizers are jubilant at the sheer scale and success of the movement nationwide.

Boosting the effort is broad corporate support, led by sponsorships from Philips, SM Supermalls, Pilipinas Shell, Malampaya Joint Venture Partners (Shell Exploration, Chevron and PNOC), First Gen Corp., Energy Development Corp., Meralco and Ayala Land.

The nation edged out all other countries for the most number of participating cities and towns, trailed by Greece with 484 and Australia with 309 - proving that Filipinos can rise up to the challenge of climate change.

The inaugural Earth Hour in 2007 involved just two million people in one city – Sydney in Australia. Some 53 million in 371 cities in 35 countries took up the rallying cry in 2008. This year’s overwhelming participation reflects growing global concern over climate change and the inability of the world so far to craft an effective global response. Organizers hoped for the participation of at least 1000 cities and towns worldwide.

At least 3943 communities from 88 countries across 25 time zones heeded this year’s call. Again, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who pitched in to find light amidst the darkness.

Ang galing! I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it. I was reading the last part of Harry Potter Half Blood Prince. I used a flashlight to read it when we had to close lights. sakto 1 hour i finished the book. galing. Nakakapagtaka na sa isang oras na yun ang hirap din pala knowing na may ilaw pero di sya pede buksan. Pero when i read this article sa Philippine Star, i felt proud because a lot of Pinoys took part and I and my family decided to take part too. Kudos sa WWF and Earth Hour organization kasi if not for their information drive, di siguro ganun kalaki ang impact sa madaming tao. The last years, nakikita ko sa TV and would resolve to join pero i would forget tapos parang napaka-insignificant naman ng contribution pag ikaw lang. Pero ngayon dahil talagang pinaghandaan at dinessiminate nila ng mabuti yung info, lahat sa bahay alam kaya lahat nagparticipate. Sabi nga ng sister ko dapat twice a year sya e. Congrats din sa lahat ng sumali!