City encourages citizens to power down and celebrate Earth Hour
The City of Calgary is participating in Earth Hour this weekend by shutting off lights at City facilities and hosting a free outdoor event for citizens. Earth Hour is a global initiative held Saturday, March 28 from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. to raise awareness about how energy use contributes to climate change and ways we can all take action to reduce our impact.
Citizens are invited to switch off their lights and electronics and attend Calgary Unplugged, a family-friendly lights out event at Olympic Plaza on March 28 from 7 – 9:30 p.m. The event will feature free hot chocolate in compostable cups, games, an Earth Hour photo booth and an LED lantern parade. Event-goers will help power music and lights on bikes provided by Open Streets Calgary.
“We’re offering a fun way for citizens to join together and show Calgary’s commitment to conserving energy,” said Kyle White, Leader of Corporate Environmental Stewardship. “Whether you celebrate with family or friends at home or bring your family downtown for the festivities, Earth Hour is about taking the time to reflect on the ways we can each take action to reduce our impact on the environment.”
During Earth Hour, The City will participate by turning off all non-essential and feature lighting at:
- The Municipal Building and old City Hall
- Calgary Public Building
- Manchester Centre Building E
- Ad Valorem Place
- Whitehorn Multi-Services Centre
- all fire stations
- Centre Street Bridge
- the 4th Street S.E. underpass
- the Riverwalk area near Prince’s Island Park
- Langevin Bridge
The City’s commitment to reducing energy use in its operations goes far beyond Earth Hour. Some of the work underway includes converting over 80,000 community streetlights to more energy efficient LED bulbs over the next four years. Additionally, The City is conducting a pilot to automatically power down desktop computers during non-work hours. If the pilot proves successful, a corporate-wide program could save enough electricity to power over 340 households per year.
The City encourages Calgarians to also go beyond the hour by taking simple steps to reduce energy use. A list of energy saving tips for homeowners is available at www.calgary.ca/saveenergy.
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