During 1 hour, on March 28th 2015 at 8:30 pm Tahiti and Moorea turned their lights off like other millions people did around the world. More than just a simple lights off event, it is a symbolic way of saying « I can make a difference for the planet ».
This movement was originally created 8 years ago in Sydney by WWF, at this time it was a simple local « lights off hour » initiative but it soon became a global event now considered as the biggest in the world with 7000 cities in 162 participating countries! The concept is clear : using the power of the crowd. Every single person can do something against climate change and millions of people together are even more powerful. During this hour, all around the world, people are linked together around one goal : protecting the planet through a positive and hopeful message.
In only 3 years Tahiti has already done particularly well in this global movement, during 2014 Earth Hour, Tahiti was recognized as the 4th most outstanding event. This year was even bigger with many entertainments spread into 3 locations : Tahitian party in Teahupoo, acoustic concert at the Pointe Venus in Mahina and a Pepena concert in Moorea. Earth Hour Tahiti has its own signature: You need to bring a recyclable waste to get free access to the event and concerts. Those waste will participate to a support program helping disadvantaged child. More than 50 restaurants, bars and hotels also actively participated proposing candlelight dinners this evening!
Beyond the symbolic, the lights off hour has also a concrete impact on the planet with for example a decrease of 4 megawatts of the electric production during the 2014 edition in Tahiti, unfortunately this figure hasn’t been beaten in 2015. The great video announcing the 2015 event had certainly a part in its success (click here to see the video). The Kick off party launched the event a few days in advance, in presence of the President of French Polynesia, Edouard Fritch.
Let’s hope this is a first step in the change and awareness, even more important for our fragile territory so much exposed to the climate change consequences.
More information: www.earthhourtahiti.com