Vote for a cause: Earth hour

Sharing a romantic night with your loved one or taking your dog for a walk at night are among the 10 different things suggested by www.earthhour.org when people across the globe will switch off lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm (their local time) to participate in Earth Hour – a movement against climate change.

In its third year, Earth Hour got a shot in the arm when more cities in India pledged their support, apart from the listed ones such as Mumbai and New Delhi. Bollywood actor Aamir Khan will head the campaign in India.

“Initially, it was only Mumbai and [New] Delhi which had joined the campaign. But now cities like Bangalore, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Kochi have pledged their support to create awareness,'' said Aarti Khosla, Communications and Campaigns Manager, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in India.

Speaking to XPRESS over the telephone from New Delhi, Khosla said: “Even multiplex cinema halls have volunteered to switch off unnecessary lights in the complex without affecting the shows.'' He said the organisation's aim is to target urban population and corporate entities with whom the problem [of global warming] can be addressed.

This year, over 1,000 cities from 75 countries are participating to present a memorandum to world leaders at the Global Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

Cities committed are: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Oslo, Cape Town, Warsaw, Lisbon, Singapore, Istanbul, Mexico City, Toronto, Dubai and Copenhagen.