It's lights out for Sydney during Earth Hour campaign - Community - Village Voice

It's lights out for Sydney during Earth Hour campaign -

[ what a bunch of Wallys ... ?!]


Lights off Sydney! That's the message that is going around as individuals and businesses prepare for an hour of darkness, the likes of which has never been seen before in our city.
Earth Hour will begin at 7.30 pm on Saturday, March 31, when individuals, communities and businesses are encouraged to turn off all their lights. It will mark the start of a 12-month campaign to reduce Sydney's greenhouse-gas emissions by 5 per cent.
"Earth Hour is about engaging businesses and individuals to take simple actions that will collectively make a difference," Greg Bourne, CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia, said.
Randwick City Council is leading by example and getting behind the Earth Hour concept. To show its support, the council will be hosting a free Earth Hour presentation on Monday, April 2 from 7 pm at the Scientia building, University of NSW.
Speaking at the presentation will be the WWF Earth Hour ambassador, Sarah Bishop, who has just completed a 1000km walk from Brisbane to Sydney to raise awareness for this climate-change initiative.
The MP for Kingsford Smith, Peter Garrett, will also appear at the evening. Mr Garrett said he believed Earth Hour was an impressive project.
"Earth Hour 2007 is a terrific campaign whose time has definitely come. It's incredible to think that by a simple flick of a switch a whole city can reduce greenhouse emissions and show the way in addressing dangerous climate change. Next step - ratify Kyoto," Mr Garrett said.
The mayor of Randwick, Paul Tracey, is encouraging the whole community to come to the special presentation and get involved in Earth Hour.
"The council will participate by shutting down all lights in our administration building and I encourage every household and business to also turn their lights off for just one hour, so we can all work together to save power and reduce greenhouse-gas pollution," Cr Tracey said.
Botany Bay mayor Ron Hoenig said his area would also play its part. "Every day is Earth Hour day in the City of Botany Bay. All our policies aim at reducing and controlling emissions," Cr Hoenig said.
Residents need not be alarmed about power cuts, though. Integral Energy, a major energy supplier to the community, said it would not be turning off any electricity during Earth Hour.
"It's important to us that Earth Hour is celebrated safely and that participation is voluntary," Richard Powis, Integral Energy CEO, said.
This means that all essential security lighting will remain on in public areas and residents are encouraged to take care if participating.
Residents are also encouraged to take all electronic equipment off stand-by, as appliances on stand-by can consume as much as 10 per cent of your electricity bill.
Plenty of local organisations are getting involved in Earth Hour. The Prince of Wales Hospital said that for patient safety, they would not be switching off lights or power; NSW Health is, however, committed to Earth Hour.
The University of NSW will be switching off all non-essential lighting for the hour on March 31. The Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the ANZAC Bridge will all be extinguishing external lighting.
Local schools are getting behind the scheme and will be switching off lights and appliances in the recess and lunch periods on Friday, March 30.
Local businesses are also getting caught up in the hype. Barzura Ristorante, Coogee, will be turning off all power that is not needed during Earth Hour. The restaurant will be completely candle lit, all music will be switched off and they'll be encouraging customers to order shaken or handmade cocktails rather than blended ones.
Express Data, Botany, has been preparing for Earth Hour by turning lights and computers off each evening for the last couple of months.
Although Earth Hour is purely a Sydney event in 2007, a friendly pub in the north-west of Wales will be taking part as well. In the Blue Bells Inn, in the small town of Halkyn, they will be serving their beer by candlelight to celebrate Earth Hour.
WWF Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said: "Having one thousand businesses register their commitment to Earth Hour is a fantastic result - it shows that businesses can take action and are serious about addressing their greenhouse-gas emissions."