Earth Hour, which was observed from 8.30pm on Saturday, was a reminder to the common man to take time out from their busy schedules to think about the environment, says Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor, who has been the brand ambassador for the annual event for the past two years.
Earth Hour, organised by WWF, is a global movement uniting people to protect the planet. It started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.
Last year, Delhi is said to have saved around 250MW during Earth Hour.
Kapoor, who is in the capital to urge youth to spread awareness for the cause, believes this initiative helps in “influencing and educating people”.
“It’s [an effort towards] connecting with the common man out there who might not have the time to think about all of this... if you just make him [the common man] think, I am sure it will make a difference in a bigger way,” Kapoor said.
The 29-year-old says he realised that “a lot of places in our country don’t have electricity, there is still water shortage, clean water issues, natural resource issues... animals that need to be taken care of, and the environment in general in our country has been ignored for quite sometime because we have so many other issues to deal with”.
The Ishaqzaade actor says he does his bit for conservation by putting the tap off while brushing his teeth, switching off the mains when he leaves his house and disconnecting the charger once his phone is charged.
He stressed that the idea of Earth Hour is to “remind people and consolidate the fact that the environment needs all of us”.
“Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to lead a better future... we might be able to sustain for another 10, 15 or 20 years, but there is going to be an inevitable problem,” he said.
“I hope everyone understands the value of this hour, that if they are not using [extra] electricity, it can go a long way.”
