Conceived by WWF Australia in 2004, the first Earth Hour was held in Sydney in March 2007 as a way to encourage dialogue about climate change. San Francisco held their own version a few months later, and the initiative took off on a global scale the following year in 2008 with over 400 cities in 35 countries from all seven continents participating, including Singapore (which became the global Earth Hour HQ when cofounder Andy Ridley relocated here in 2012).
Since then, more and more businesses and institutions have joined the movement to switch off non-essential lights for an hour, and this year, the event will get some superhero assistance in the form of Spider-Man, who has been selected as Earth Hour’s global ambassador.
Singapore will be lucky enough to receive the cast from the upcoming movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – including director Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx – who will be leading the celebrations at The Float @ Marina Bay from 5pm onwards. Lights go out at 8.30pm.
Check out their website to find out more about this year’s ‘Use Your Power’ campaign, where you can pledge to either up your air-con by one degree, switch to LED light bulbs, use fewer plastic bags or take shorter showers.