What will you be doing March 29 at 8.30pm? Having a drink with friends? Having dinner? Spending time with your family? Instead of sitting with the lights on, why not spend an hour by candlelight and support WWF’s worldwide event Earth Hour.

Starting in 2007, Earth Hour asks individuals, businesses and governments to switch out their lights for one hour – at 8.30pm local time, whatever your location around the globe. The idea is to allow those who take part to show they are taking steps to reduce their environmental impact, and for many people it is the first step to making more significant, sustainable changes to their lifestyle.

Last year 157 countries took part, with over 10 million people in the UK alone turning off their lights at 8.30pm [1]. This year organisers WWF hope even more people to join in, with “Amazing Spider Man 2” actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone each pledging their support to one of the Earth Hour Blue crowdfunding projects [2].

While not every light should be turned off, for example safety lights, traffic lights etc. [3], you can choose to turn off overhead room lights, lamps, computers and other electronic devices such as televisions, and other similar light sources.

An event like Earth Hour raises awareness all over the globe about the importance of conserving energy and becoming a more sustainable society. Making the focus lighting is highly relevant to this, as typically 7% of a household’s energy bill comes from lighting [4].

There are some easy and quick ways to instantly reduce your lighting costs:

• Use natural daylight – when it’s light outside keen curtains and blinds open to let in sunlight, rather than having lamps on.
• Turn off lights when you leave the room – having lights on in empty rooms keeps your bills higher than they need to be.
• Use sensors and timers so lights go off automatically when they aren’t needed.
• Make sure the bulbs you buy are energy efficient – Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are both readily available across the country.
• Shop for Energy Efficient lights at https://www.energysavingwarehouse.co.uk/store/Lights

References

[1] WWF. Earth Hour in 2013. 2014. https://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/about-wwfs-earth-hour/earth-hour-in-2013

[2] Earth Hour. Earth Hour & Spider-Man Join Forces to Save the Planet. 2014. http://www.earthhour.org/be-superhero-planet

[3] Earth Hour. Celebrating Earth Hour. 2014. http://www.earthhour.org/celebrating-earth-hour

[4] Energy Saving Trust. Lighting. 2014. http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Electricity/Lighting