Many people around the world are planning on observing an hour of “darkness” tomorrow night as a way of participating in a global earth hour. The event was created by the World Wildlife Fund in 2007.
From the Earth Hour Website:
“Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.”
Get the full story on Earth Hour here.
The Christian Science Monitor has the “local” angle from Chicago here:
“Chicago is Earth Hour’s US flagship city, with Atlanta, San Francisco, Phoenix, and a dozen more joining in.
In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley has long been on a quest to make the city the greenest in the nation, and officials say this event can help individuals and businesses engage. Local McDonald’s restaurants will dim their golden arches, theaters will darken their marquees, and Chicagoans have planned events from ghost stories in the dark to a candlelight bachelorette party.
“We’ve improved a lot of our own practices,” says Sadhu Johnston, Chicago’s chief environmental officer, noting that the city has switched to greener power sources and was the first in the world to join the Climate Exchange. “But ultimately we need homeowners and businesses and Chicago residents to take the lead on this.”
The Diocese of Arizona’s Nature and Spirituality Program is calling on the people of Phoenix and the state to observe the Hour in their own way. (The Arizona Republic has their version of the “local” angle too.)
Any religious organizations you know of planning on doing something to mark the event?