By Shepard Fairey for Earth Hour 2009 from Flickr Earth Hour Global
On March 27th, 2010 a record number of participants celebrated Earth Hour by turning off their lights in settings across the globe. The incessant blaze of nocturnal city lights was slightly lessened for this single hour as (some of) the globe’s population sat in darkness or flickering candle light, protesting their own reliance upon emission creating technologies for comfort, for light. Like a wave, Earth Hour cast a moving, lightless shadow over our world, chasing the night westbound through the time zones.
And yet, what is the purpose of Earth Hour? Does it in fact do anything?
Earth Hour’s intention is to inspire individuals to shut off their lights for one hour from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time and to spend that dim-lit time thinking about conservation and the climate. Perhaps more significantly, this event provides an opportunity for mass collective action regarding climate change, and becomes a tremendous demonstration of public engagement on an international level. This movement, a celebration of the earth, is also a strong political protest, made ever more impressive for its disregard of borders.
After the tragic failure of climate talks at the recent Copenhagen Climate Summit in December, the international community was in great need of a momentous and powerful symbol of commitment to the pressing concerns of climate change. Earth Hour is not just about unified participation in an earth-conscious event: it is also a global call to action directed at world leaders. This event has become one of the most strategic and collaborative climate rallies in operation today.
Started in Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown with tremendous success. This year Earth Hour boasts the participation of not only record amounts of countries, but also the participation of national monuments and world heritage sites such as London’s Big Ben, Rome’s Coliseum, and Athens’ Acropolis. Seeing the light dim on these iconic monuments is enough to excite even the uninspired climate advocate. While these events are not revolutionary, nor even that drastic, it is amazing what one can see when we are no longer shining the spotlight upon ourselves.
In this era, rife with ‘lazy environmentalism,’ there are plenty of current events to dismay the disconcerted environmentalist, so, when there is something to celebrate, it is best to don your party hat. Any step, even a small one, in the right direction is a victory over defeat.