EARTH HOUR

Earth Hour in Kalymnos - 2009
Marios Frangoulis at Pnyx - 2009
To the Batala beat in Gazi - 2013

What is Earth Hour?

The biggest environmental awareness campaign in history!

When does it take place?

Every year in the last Saturday of March.

Why?

To raise environmental awareness and to demonstrate that small changes in our everyday life can have a huge outcome that benefits the environment and our lives.

What does one have to do?

One just has to turn off the lights for one hour, the Earth Hour. From there on, every year has its own unique challenge. This year's motto is "I Will If You Will", that urges our friends to do "green" acts, in exchange for one from us.

How does it help?

Earth Hour is a very "visible" symbolic action in which millions of citizens from all over the world can easily take part in. Through a feast, we send a strong message to the politicians and the governments.

"I care about my planet"!

Of course, an hour in the darkness won't solve climate change. Still, the message sent by millions of people who turn off the lights simultaneously, contributes in shaping the necessary political climate for solving the most serious environmental problems of the planet.

Why should I take part?

Because the future is in our hands!
There are many things that divide us: sex, race, nationality, political and religious beliefs. But on the fight against climate change, borders are meaningless - we are all citizens of planet Earth!

History of Earth Hour

March 31, 2007 The first Earth Hour takes place in Sydney, Australia by WWF Australia, the advertising agency Leo Burnett and the municipality of Sydney. From 19:30 to 20:30 2.2 million of people and 2,100 businesses turn off their lights.
March 29, 2008 Earth Hour becomes international and travels all over the world! 371 cities in over 35 countries take part for the fist time in an unprecedented campaign. It is estimated that 50 million citizens participated. This is just the beginning...
March 28, 2009 Tenths of millions of people in over 4,000 cities and small towns in 88 countries turn of their light for an hour creating a "visual command" for immediate action against climate change. Greece takes officially part for the first time and gets second place in participations. The image of a dark Acropolis travels around the world.
March 27, 2010 Earth Hour turns now into a world cry for a sustainable future. 128 countries and hundreds of landmarks and monuments all around the world plunge into darkness.
March 26, 2011 Earth Hour makes a new participation record of 135 countries and is the first one that tries to go even further, by asking the participants to think what else they can to save the planet beyond this hour.
March 31, 2012 A new record this year too! 6,950 cities and small towns in 152 participate in Earth Hour. 200,000 accept "I Will If You Will" challenges.
March 23, 2013 Earth Hour took place this year too all around the world. A promising innovation this year was the commitment by 59 municipalities to carry out ecological initiatives after Earth Hour, if the citizens expressed interest in accepting their challenge.