It’s Earth Hour time again from 8.30pm-9.30pm local time (wherever you are) on Saturday 27 March 2010 and although it might be easy to be complacent ~ we did it last year ~ it is still worth participating again as this year’s event is being billed as single, biggest, global call to action on climate change ever seen. Showing that the issue of climate change is not about what country you come from, it’s about what planet you’re from.

The movement started in 2007 in Sydney – when approximately 2.2 million homes and businesses turned off their lights. It has grown substantially in the following years, with an estimated 1 billion people taking part last year (2009). The forecast for this year’s event is that all 7 continents, including Antarctica will be involved, including more than 120 countries and regions, and 4 of the 5 tallest buildings. In fact some of the most iconic places on the planet have confirmed they will join in: Eiffel Tower (France), Empire State Building (US), the Sphinx (Egypt), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia), Forbidden City (China), Red Fort (India)

Even Though It’s All Been Done Before

Earth Hour is the brainchild of, and is organised by WWF. It was conceived to be a highly "visible" symbolic act. One that millions of people can easily join in with. And one that allows you to have fun while sending out a serious message to our politicians and governments, that says "I care about my planet!" As Tammy Plotner says, “It’s all about giving people a voice on the future of our planet and working together. Even if you'd rather fight than flick the switch… you are participating.”

Some Gadgetry to help you participate:

· Global "lights off" on Twitter for the WWF Earth Hour '10
http://www.lightsoff-earthhour.com/ - this application will automatically turn the lights off on your Twitter profile picture for Earth Hour.

· WWF Earth Hour App for Blackberry (free)
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/7232 - this app will

· The Facebook App
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=401651865972 - that does the same thing the Twitter App does, just for your Facebook profile

· Add an Earth Hour Wordpress plugin
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/earth-hour/

· For Drupal users
http://drupal.org/project/earth_hour

· Create a virtual lantern for your site
http://www.earthhour.org/tools/lanterns/Lantern.aspx

· Call2 Action widget
http://www.call2action.com/previewWidget/w82/index.html - to embed on your blog.

· Your very own light switch on your computer
http://www.earthhour.org/kids/lightswitch/Lightswitch.aspx

For more information on Earth Hour and how you can participate:

http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx?intro=no

http://www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/earth_hour/

http://weblog.earthhour.org.au/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthhour_global/

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More information about this topic in our non-profit organisations section

Image Credit: © WWF / Sean Kelland

Written By Suze Chalmers

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