Earth Hour 2009 was this past Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Around the globe, estimated 2,848 cities, towns, and municipalities joined the eco-blackout. In Vegas, many businesses and organizations on and off the Las Vegas Strip have participated in the event. Some 5,000 glow necklaces have been given out to guests during the event. 

What is Earth Hour? Earth Hour is an annual international event organized by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to raise awareness of climate change in which participants switch off all their lights for one hour, beginning at 8:30 p.m. local time. According to EarthHour.org, the event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights and many used glow sticks or light sticks for lighting during the blackouts.  Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness for one hour. This year, estimated 1 billion people have participated in the event. During the blackouts, some places used candles. Many others used glow in the dark products such as glow necklaces, glowsticks & glow bracelets. Compared with candles, glow necklaces and glow sticks provide a more reliable lighting source in all weather conditions. They are non-flammable and emitting no sparks or heat; they are waterproof and windproof, to name a few advantages.

Durng the Earth Hour in Vegas, University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV)’s Ultimate Frisbee Team also played glow in the dark Frisbee games. One of the ways to do that would be to attach some glow necklaces and glow bracelets to inner rings of the frisbees using transparent tapes.

For more information on Earth Hour, visit http://www.earthhour.org/

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