Earth Hour Pilipinas

Earth Hour 2011: Growing Beyond the Hour

Earth Hour’s global switch off to highlight momentous action for Earth

100 days out from the annual ‘lights out’ event, Earth Hour Philippines 2011 prepares to showcase a growing Filipino community committed to taking environmental actions that go beyond the hour.

From its inception as a single-city initiative in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global movement where hundreds of millions of people from every continent join together to acknowledge the importance of protecting our planet. Inspired by thousands of stories of people going beyond the hour,  Earth Hour 2011 will ask individuals, businesses and governments the world over to add more to the annual switch off by showcasing how they are taking action to preserve their environment.

Earth Hour 2011 asks people from all countries to:

• Switch off your lights for Earth Hour at 8.30pm, Saturday 26 March 2011 and celebrate your commitment to the planet with the people of the world.
• Sign up and Share stories of your actions that benefit the planet on earthhour.org.
• Sustain your actions beyond the hour.

“Earth Hour’s rapid growth over four years has proven that hundreds of millions people want to do more to protect their planet.” said Andy Ridley, Co-founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour.

“Whether it’s a child changing a classroom or a president changing a country, people, organizations and governments everywhere are invited to switch off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 and commit to taking action beyond the hour,” Ridley said.

In February, earthhour.org will launch a platform enabling participants to share stories of what they’re doing or plan to do to make a real difference to their environment in the year ahead, showing that, no matter how big or small, together our actions add up.

Earth Hour 2010 was the largest voluntary action for the environment in history with lights going out across 128 countries and over 4500 cities worldwide. Earth Hour 2011 will again see hundreds of millions of people across all continents come together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for one designated hour.

The 100-day countdown to Earth Hour 2011 has begun, the iconic ‘lights out’ event that has seen some of the world’s most recognized landmarks, including the Forbidden City, Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, Golden Gate Bridge, Table Mountain, Christ the Redeemer statue and SM Mall of Asia switch off in a global celebration of the one thing that unites us all – the planet.

Earth Hour Philippines 2011 is sponsored by the Yuchengco Group of Companies, Coca-Cola Philippines under its Live Positively platform, McDonald’s and SMART Communications. Official media champions as of February 2011 include the Discovery Channel, TV5, Net-25, CLTV-36, Solar TV, BusinessMirror, Mega Publishing Group,  Aftercall Magazine, QCreativs, Globaltronics and Click the City.

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a global initiative in partnership with WWF.  Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. By 2010, Earth Hour had created history as the largest voluntary action ever witnessed with participation across 128 countries and every continent, including the world’s most recognized man-made marvels and natural wonders in a landmark environmental action. Earth Hour Philippines debuted in 2008 and has since grown into one of the largest annual events in the country, with over 15 million participants in 2010 alone.

About WWF

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

For more information:

Atty. Gia Ibay
Earth Hour Philippines National Director
gibay@wwf.org.ph

Gregg Yan
Earth Hour Philippines Communications
gyan@wwf.org.ph