NewsLab

Sidney’s landmark monuments plunged into darkness, for 60 minutes to observe Earth Hour, the greenhouse awareness initiative promoted worldwide by WWF.

At 8 o’ clock sharp, millions of residents in Sidney, Melbourne and Adelaide, unplugged their home appliances and turned off their lights, remaining for one hour in the dark. Even marriages were carried out by candle lights. Big multinational companies as Coca Cola and Mac Donald’s turned off their luminous signs.

360 cities in 34 countries will turn off their lights for one hour. Among them, India, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, but also big cities as London, Toronto, Vancouver and Athens. In the Greek Capital, the Parliament Building, Lycabettus Hill and the City Hall will take part in the event with a 60-minute voluntary blackout.

Even if organizers acknowledge that Earth Hour is just a small step, they feel certain that this campaign will function as a catalyst for the undertaking of bigger initiatives in the future.