At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday March 26, street and residential lights will switch off around the globe for one hour in recognition of Earth Hour.
Earth Hour, an annual global event hosted by the World Wildlife Fund encourages individuals to show their support for the fight against climate change.
Sheryl Worthing, Village of Burns Lake's chief administrative officer said the village plans to participate in Earth Hour by switching off their municipal office lights to show their support. "We will be turning off the lights but not holding any special events," she said.
According to BC Hydro, during Earth Hour 2010, the individual community in B.C. with the highest reduction in consumption, which was seven per cent, was Burns Lake and the entire province’s electricity load dropped by 1.04 per cent during Earth Hour 2010.
It is hoped that local residents will also take similar action on climate change by simply flicking off the lights in their homes for an hour this year.
Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when approximately 2.2 million homes and businesses turned out their lights for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Since then landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, Toronto's CN Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco have all stood in darkness for an hour in March every year to show support for awareness to climate change.
Earth Hour is now a globally recognized 'take a stand' initiative and millions of people across the globe turn out their lights on this day every year.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, living 'green' and becoming more aware of the effects of climate change does not just have to be a once a year event. Simply turning off the light when you leave the room can not only save money in electricity costs but can also help save the planet.
The effects of climate change have been attributed to severe droughts, flooding, and extreme weather events across the globe.
This year the World Wildlife Fund are asking people to go beyond the hour and to think about what else can be done to make a difference when the lights turn back on.
Earth Hour is a global journey to help promote a sustainable future for the planet.
Last year a record 128 countries and territories took part in Earth Hour.
To learn more about Earth Hour go to www.earthhour.org.