When households nationwide switched off non-essential lights for one hour from 8:30 last night, this country of 108 million displayed —not in the dark but in the gleam of their united thoughts—their determination and commitment to be one with the world in protecting the Earth’s biological diversity.
This allegiance, which has been on a roll in this Southeast Asian archipelago for the past dozen years, had its eye focus Saturday at the Globe Circuit Event Grounds in Makati, not far from the Manila Standard office, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the actual switch-off at 8.30.
At least 3,000 boy scouts of the Philippines, who raised their formal underprop, were deployed to the historic and public event which featured booths, activities, and performances that honor the planet.
The one-hour pitch darkness suggested strongly the solidarity Filipinos have with millions round the world who did the same in this grassroots movement for the environment.
Earth Hour, a charitable organization based out of Singapore whose mission is to unite people to protect the planet and an open source movement organized by World Wide Fund, has been for 12 years an annual event, with millions of people and thousands of business worldwide turning off lights and shutting down most electrical appliances to celebrate sustainability.
By participating in the event, they show—as we did—their support for strategies that hopefully will help solve the problem of global warming.
But it’s not enough that we had the switch off during the weekend.
More importantly, beyond the D-hour on Saturday, there must be a continuing commitment and effort to harness, as the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines has repeatedly underlined, the power of social media and help share their commitment to start changing the planet for the better by sharing stories and photos of their sustainable living actions.
Along this line, we join WWF Philippines in its hope to create awareness on the dangers of single-use plastics, ignite conversations, change mindsets and habits of consumers, as well as urge business to operate more sustainably and influence policy.
Now, back to switching on the lights.