On Saturday, March 28, cities around the world celebrated “Earth Hour,” implemented by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), by powering down their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 pm to promote awareness for the growing energy crisis and giving participants an idea of how simple conserving energy truly can be.

According to the Earth Hour official website, Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned off their lights for one hour.  This year, the movement grew to global measures.  From the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to Rome’s Colosseum, landmarks across the world vowed to switch off their lights. 

Residents of the South Jersey/Philadelphia area also shut off their lights and participated in “Earth Hour.”  Philly.com reports that prior to the hour of energy conservation, Cherry Hill passed a resolution in support of “Earth Hour.”  Philadelphia pledged to turn off the lights in three city buildings and Harrisburg shut off nonessential lights in its state capital building. 

Philadelphia also promoted efforts to participate in “Earth of Hour,” holding events at the Philadelphia Zoo and Marbar at 40th and Walnut Street. 

Though the WWF cannot calculate any exact results of “Earth Hour,” the organization, with help from the billions of participants around the globe, sent a clear message about their desire for action on climate change.