Spring technically sprung yesterday (though you might not know it from the abundant parkas, scarves and mittens). Spring brings an abundance of eco-themed holidays like Earth Day and Bike Month. But first, we begin with Earth Hour, a time to focus specifically on saving energy.
When? Saturday, March 24 from 8:30-9:30 pm.
What? Power Down: turn off the lights (if safe to do so) and anything with a plug and a switch. Before you put away your screens, get the social media word out with #Connect2Earth (yes, a brand new hashtag).
Why? Energy consumption (in our houses, buildings and cars) is a massive contributor to those nasty greenhouse gas emissions (GHG, the emissions villain in the story of climate change). Take the hour to save energy now and throughout the year.
The WWF leads the way on this one (World Wildlife Fund, not World Wrestling Federation, though I bet many wrestlers are also treehuggers – very strong treehuggers).
From the WWF:
Join us this #EarthHour on Saturday, 24 March, 8:30 p.m. local time, and be a part of our movement to protect our planet and its incredible nature!
Starting as a symbolic lights out event in Sydney in 2007, WWF’s Earth Hour has grown to become the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organizations in more than 180 countries and territories to take action for our shared home💪🌎
From our forests to our oceans, we have achieved many amazing things for our climate and its biodiversity – showing us that together, anything is possible 🙂 in solidarity with global efforts to protect our planet and its biodiversity
Here at UHN, we will also dim the lights at many of our buildings, though no candle-lit surgeries or hand-drawn MRIs. We also encourage everyone at work or at home to participate in Earth Hour in whatever way they can. Better than an hour is to keep that energy-conserving goodness going all year. Maybe start or join a green team to get motivated? Walking the talk is always better together.
This Saturday, see you under the stars.
Lisa
Want to dig deeper?
http://www.earthhour.org/canada
http://docs.assets.eco.on.ca/reports/climate-change/2017/From-Plan-to-Progress.pdf
http://taf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TAF_2015_GTHA_Emissions_Inventory_2017-12-06.pdf
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