Every year, at 8:30 pm on the last Saturday of March, supporters in over 190 countries and territories unite, taking action on and raising awareness of the issues of nature loss and climate change facing our home planet. Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. In India, it is organized by WWF-India. The theme for Earth Hour 2022 is ‘Shape our Future.’
Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio encouraging the citizens of Nagaland to observe Earth Hour is appreciated. Whether Earth Hour will be religiously observed in Nagaland or not is a different thing. In fact, even if it is observed, the reduction in power consumption and energy saved during Earth Hour in Nagaland would be so insignificant. As stated by WWF, Earth Hour is more than just an hour for Earth – it is a movement for our own futures, for the benefit of people and the planet. And it is not only a symbol of solidarity – it is a catalyst for change, harnessing the power of the crowd.
Observing Earth Hour is in part more about spreading awareness on how loss of nature affects human lives. As there are no organizations in Mokokchung, or Nagaland for that matter, spearheading the Earth Hour campaign, it will come down to conscious individuals to participate in it in solidarity with other conscious citizens around the world. For those who are interested, Earth Hour can be observed as a call to adopt various small but interesting lifestyle changes.
We can opt to use less hot water. According to WWF, washing your clothes in cold or warm water instead of hot water can save as much as 500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.
Only 10% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb produces light; the rest is given off as heat. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) are up to four times as efficient as incandescent bulbs.
Microwave ovens use around 50% less energy than conventional ovens do.
Plant a tree. An average tree can absorb 1 ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
Refrigerators account for one-sixth of a home’s energy use. Choose an energy efficient one.
Reuse containers and reduce waste. The average child’s school lunch generates 30kgs of packaging waste over a year.