Earth Hour!

1. What is Earth Hour?
   Earth Hour is a wdorldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, and is organised by WWF. Engaging a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007.  Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide, and the one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement
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3. What is Earth Hour Blue?
   Earth Hour Blue is an all-new digital crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform for the planet launched in 2014 to capture the power of the crowd and engage people around the world beyond the lights out event. The crowdfunding section of the platform allows participants to financially support and deliver positive, tangible changes to the environment and communities all over the world. Individuals can also use Earth Hour Blue’s crowdsourcing platform, which will call for people to add their voice to some of the biggest environmental campaigns across the world.
4. When does Earth Hour take place?
   Earth Hour 2014 will be held on Saturday 29 March between 8.30PM and 9.30PM in your local time zone. The event is held worldwide towards the end of March annually, encouraging individuals, communities households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet. Earth Hour 2015 will take place on Saturday, 28 of March at 8:30PM to 9:30PM in your local timezone.
5. What does Earth Hour aim to achieve?
   Earth Hour aims to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world.
6. What does Earth Hour ask people to do?
   The first thing anyone can do to get involved is to turn off their lights on Saturday. But there’s much, much more. But our full ambition is for people to take action beyond the hour. Whether it’s supporting a crowdfunding or crowdsroucing campaign onwww.earthhour.org or getting involved in Earth Hour campaigns in their own country, or starting the movement in their own community. The vision is always to do more, so make the light switch the beginning of your journey.
7. How long has Earth Hour been going for?
   The first Earth Hour event was on March 31 2007. WWF-Australia inspired Sydney-siders to show their support for climate change action. More than 2.2 million individuals and 2,000 businesses turned their lights out for one hour in the first Earth Hour event.

   Earth Hour 2014 will mark the eighth year of the campaign.
8. Is Earth Hour an annual event?
   Earth Hour is more than annual event – it is a movement that culminates in an hour of inspiration across the world held towards the end of March each year. 
9. What exactly has Earth Hour achieved before launching Earth Hour Blue?
   • WWF Uganda started the world’s first Earth Hour Forest
   • More than 250,000 Russians voiced support for better protection of their country’s seas and forests
   • Argentina used its 2013 Earth Hour campaign to help pass a Senate bill for a 3.4 million hectare Marine Protected Area in the country
   • Thousands of wood-saving stoves were distributed to families in Madagascar
   • Solar-powered lights were installed in three villages without electricity in India
   • In Paraguay, WWF used the Earth Hour platform to build public support to gain an extension of the logging moratorium, helping to reduce deforestation
   • Education programs for schools were launched in Thailand and Taiwan
   • Hundreds of thousands of LED lights were installed by girl scouts in the USA
   • More than 2123 mitigation actions submitted by Earth Hour City Challenge 2014 participating cities

   But this is just the start, there’s so many more Earth Hour stories out there we’re still discovering, and of course much more to do.
10. Back to the event. Isn't switching the lights off dangerous? What about public safety?
    Earth Hour only asks people to turn off the non-essential lights for one hour - not lights that affect public safety. Earth Hour is also a celebration of the planet so it’s important to enjoy the moment in a safe environment.
11. What lights can be safely switched off?
    That is a decision that has to be made individually but usually the overhead lights in rooms (whether it is your house or a business), outdoor lighting that does not impact safety, decorative lights, neon signs for advertising, televisions, desk lamps, the list goes on and on.

    There are a few lights we can say with certainty that should NOT be turned off, including safety lights in public spaces, lights for aviation guidance, traffic lights, security lights, just to name a few. We ask people to use common sense. Before you turn off any lights for public spaces, Earth Hour recommends you check with local officials or community centres.

    In your own home, use common sense with respect to safety. Keep small night lights on for basic safety especially in halls and on stairs. Make sure you have alternative light sources handy before Earth Hour starts, like torches or flashlights. That way if you need to see, you have a light source close at hand, and you can still respect the spirit of Earth Hour and keep yourself and your family safe.
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13. What candles should I use for my Earth Hour event?
    If you plan on burning candles during Earth Hour, make sure you use 100% beeswax candles or soy candles, which are gentler on our planet - smoke free, non-toxic and non-allergenic. They are also made of natural products, not petroleum-based materials, so they are effectively carbon neutral (the CO2 they emit has already been taken from the atmosphere to produce the wax). Many communities are now replacing candles with LED lights for their event, as a way to promote energy efficient lighting - a key for any sustainable future. If you're using candles, though, make sure you take care. If you would like to get  candles for this event or other events go on www. pariscandles.com and go ahead and celebrate earth hour.
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15. Don't forget to be green
16. By: WWF and Stella.E (this information has been used from WWF)