Earth Hour Day Is Upon Us! Celebrate with this Fine Event

Ana Padilla Fornieles | Mar 24, 2023 2:30 pm | Add a comment | 42 reads

One look at the calendar and you’ll find plenty of fun and wacky holidays — National Donut Day, World Compliment Day, No Dirty Dishes Day, the list goes on. But some dates truly are worth the special entry on your agenda, and you can even keep them fun! Case in point? Earth Hour Day. And yes, I know, dear reader; there’s only one Greta Thunberg and the rest of us are forgetful, so let me give you the 101 on this very important day.

Earth Hour is a yearly worldwide initiative led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses across the globe to turn off all non-essential electric lights for no more and no less than one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., on the last Saturday of March —so that’s March 25 this year. The initiative started fifteen years ago in Sydney, Australia, and stands as a symbol of commitment to our planet.

If you’re feeling the pull to join this beautiful call for action this year from Beijing, boy do I have the perfect plan for you! Or rather, Global Environment Institute (GEI) does. This Beijing-based environmental NGO is joining forces with Beijing Guanglu Culture Communication to host an Earth Hour Day Trivia Night on the evening of March 25 at Beijing Zhongshuge Lafayette Store, Xidan. The venue itself is already well worth a visit: Zhongshuge is a small bookstore chain in China that is rather well-known for its stunning interior design. This particular branch was once named “China’s Most Beautiful Bookstore” by the China Book Publishers Association, and you’ll find that its airy, functional interiors lend themselves well to the event planned by GEI.

But what is GEI about? Their website is wonderfully set in English, Chinese, and Burmese, but as a brief summary for the purposes of this blog post, GEI was founded in 2004 and has since worked alongside “key policymakers, businesses, scientists, civil society leaders and local communities to foster dialogue and innovative solutions to protect the environment and enhance economic opportunity within China as well as in Southeast Asia and Africa.” Within their focus on conservation, their work falls into three main categories: leading policy change, facilitating high-level cooperation, and empowering community development.

Phew, what an introduction! Now that you know the people behind this lovely evening, you better make sure to have the whole family tag along. There will be something for all ages with games, art, environmental conservation talks, and more. And don't worry about the language barrier — it is a bilingual Chinese-English event!

The evening will start at 6:30 PM sharp, with Joanne Q from the Beijing Calligraphers Association sharing with the little ones her stories of Tuzhuaizhuai, an ambitious rabbit. Afterwards, Dr. Peng Kui, GEI’s Ecosystem Conservation and Community Development Program Manager, will deliver his talk The Man and the Sea, focusing on wetland conservation in Dandong and water conservation in Sanjiangyuan, on the beautiful Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Do you know what surrealist artists and Bilibili streamers have in common? Both love themselves a little game of cadavre exquis, aka getting down to draw in collaborative and unexpected ways. Well, with GEI you may join them both for a game of Draw & Guess based on the ocean. Fret not about your drawing skills, because it’s all about the fun here.

The night is young, and there’s plenty more for you to learn in this exciting event. How about connecting with natural resource conservation efforts in Thailand and Namibia? Travel to this Southeast Asian country to hear directly from Foundation for Environmental Education for Sustainable Development (FEED), an NGO registered in Thailand that targets the youth and general public via environmental education for a future focused on sustainability and nature. Then, tune in with Naude Dreyer, who alongside Katja Dreyer, co-created the Ocean Conservation Namibia trust in 2020, aiming to create awareness for ocean rubbish and plastic pollution. With the worldwide surge in environmental awareness and the global desire to create a better world, OCN has risen to the spotlight on social media through documenting their rescue operations of more than 3,000 seals! Naude will be sharing their astonishing story online with the audience on Saturday.

And, of course, the cherry atop the pie will be… the Trivia Night! See, that’s also why I advised you to bring a whole gang with you — this will be a group competition! I can tell you that all the questions will be related to the ocean… the rest is on you to battle it out for the special prizes that GEI has prepared for the winning team.

All in all, an effortless way to do your little bit for the planet —and then you may, hopefully, keep on going on your own, for our own sake and that of future generations. Happy learning!

Earth Hour Day Trivia Night will take place on Saturday Mar 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Beijing Zhongshuge Lafayette Store, Xidan. Tickets are RMB 68 per person and include a cup of orange juice, a unique GEI gift set and a raffle ticket. Scan the QR code below to get your tickets.