Let There Be Dark: Switch Off For Earth Hour

Are you a nyctophobe? If so, get out of Beijing this weekend, because there'll be nowhere to hide. Earth Hour is back this Saturday (Mar 31), and as in previous years a number of notable Beijing-based institutions will be marking the event by turning their lights off for 60 minutes between 8.30-9.30pm. Earth Hour always sparks a bit of debate, both about its own effectiveness and about climate change in general, and we expect this year to be no different, so to get the ball rolling, we've got details on who's taking part in Beijing and how you can get involved.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the annual Earth Hour event aims to raise awareness of climate change and, with the launch of the sister "Beyond the Hour" campaign last year, encourage year-round action. For background on what's happened in Beijing in previous years, click here and here.

According to the WWF, Beijing will be one of over 5,000 towns and cities around the world switching off the lights, with over one million people estimated to be living in the dark for 60 minutes. Among those confirmed to be taking part (according to the Earth Hour China site) are:

Beijing Metropark Lido Hotel
BHG Wanlin Mall
Crowne Plaza Beijing Sun Palace
Crowne Plaza Park View Wuzhou
Crowne Plaza Zhongguancun
Eudora Station
Grand Mercure Beijing Central
Grand Pacific Mall
The Great Wall Sheraton Beijing
Hilton Beijing
Hilton Beijing Wangfujing
Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing
Holiday Inn Chang An West Beijing
InterContinental Beijing Beichen
InterContinental Beijing Financial Street
Jin Ding Xuan
Kerry Hotel Beijing
Lenovo
Marriott City Wall Beijing
Novotel Beijing Sanyuan
Park Plaza Beijing
Raffles Beijing
Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng
St. Regis Beijing
Sunworld Dynasty Hotel
Swissotel
Traders Hotel
The Westin Beijing Financial Street
The Westin Beijing Chaoyang

While it'd be perfectly possible for individuals sat at home to switch off their lights for an hour, it's not really possible for bigger institutions to switch off the lights completely. So what does participating in Earth Hour mean for businesses? The Westin Financial Street give us an idea of the compromises a hotel makes to take part in Earth Hour while continuing to function for guests, telling us they'll be: "Turning off exterior signage lighting; dimming or turning off non-essential interior lighting; using candlelight in appropriate public areas such as restaurants and bars; and using in-room voicemail messages and in-room television messages to inform guests about Earth Hour observances."

You can follow Earth Hour news and get involved at the global site, their Chinese site, or via their Weibo page. If you want an idea of what Earth Hour has looked like around the world, here's a little promotional video the WWF has put together ...

Now, don't go thinking that Earth Hour is going to solve the world's environmental challenges, or even Beijing's. That's not what we're saying, that's not what the WWF is saying. It's an event aimed at raising awareness, no more, no less. Obviously to really make a difference we're all going to need to make sacrifices and change our lifestyles. Yes, I should cycle instead of taking cabs. Beijing's city government should continue to invest in public transport and other policies that might improve the city's environment. And you can do your bit too. But first, we can switch the lights off for an hour on Saturday night.

PHOTO: Calfinder.com