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Earth Hour

Earth Hour, held by the World Wildlife Fund, shows that small actions can make a big difference to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Last year Sydney achieved a 10% reduction and this year Earth Hour is encouraging not just Australian cities, but cities and towns around the world, to turn off their lights for just one hour.

From Darwin to Katherine, Katherine to Tennant Creek and down the track to the Solar City of Alice Springs, Power and Water will be doing its bit to ‘turn off the lights’. Our staff in their homes and workplaces will be ‘switching off’ all non essential lighting for an hour at 8.00pm on Saturday 29th.

Power and Water will also be measuring how much electricity is being used during Earth Hour and sending the results back for the national and international tally.

As Earth Hour states : If all Australian households simply turned off unused lights and appliances on standby at the power point Australia’s emissions would be reduced by at least 5 million tonnes per annum. The greenhouse gas savings would be equivalent to taking 1.5 million cars off the road for a year.

So, when Earth Hour is over and the savings calculated, don’t stop helping the environment there are many things you can do everyday –

At work - Get off standby. Speak to your office manager about turning off any equipment at work that is not being used, including computer screens, photocopiers and printers, particularly when you leave at night.

At home - Turn off anything that doesn’t need to be on. A good rule is to turn off anything not being used. When you leave a room or leave the house, turn off your lights or appliances like the TV or computer.

More tips can be found at www.earthhour.org or in these Power and Water publications