Bulgaria’s Capital Joins Earth Hour Initiative Again
BalkanTravellers.com
The initiative, scheduled for 8:30pm on March 27, aims to bring attention to the need for action on climate change. Millions of homes, office buildings, public spaces and national landmarks across the globe will turn off their lights for an hour.
So far, 579 cities, towns and municipalities in 77 countries and regions across every continent have committed to this year’s ‘lights out’ initiative, according to the Earth Hour official website.
In addition, some of the world’s most iconic landmarks will be switching off their lights for Earth Hour, including the CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the Las Vegas Strip, the Table Mountain in Cape Town, the London Eye, Mount Rushmore, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the Empire State Building and the world’s second tallest building, Tapei 101.
As BalkanTravellers.com reported last year, only in Sofia between 60,000 and 90,000 households, or between 180,000 and 270,000 people, participated in the event and turned their lights off for an hour, thus decreasing the use of power by 22 megawatts.
Especially impressive in Sofia was the turning off of the National Theatre’s lights, which was witnessed by a large crowd holding candles and accompanied by musical performances.
In addition to Sofia, 42 other Bulgarian cities and towns participated in the event. This year, it is expected that many more will follow suit with Bulgaria’s capital too.
The Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when two million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. In 2009, 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.
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In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
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