Earth hour UK

Earth Hour is an annual event which asks people to switch off all lights and use no electricity for an hour. The aim is to get people thinking about the planet they live on and the energy they use.

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is an annual global campaign that encourages people and businesses around the world to switch off electricity at the same time for one hour. Earth Hour started in Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million people in the city of Sydney turned off all non-essential lights for an hour. Since then it has grown to a massive global event. In 2013, millions of people in 7,000 cities and towns around the world switched off their lights for 60 minutes at the end of March. Every year landmarks and well-known buildings around the world such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Petronas towers in Malaysia, the UK Parliament, Buckingham Palace and the Empire State Building take part and ‘go dark’ for Earth Hour. The campaign even went into space when astronauts reduced power on the International Space Station in 2011.

Who organises Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It was started by Andy Ridley, originally from Britain, who is executive director of Earth Hour Global, WWF. He came up with the idea of Earth Hour because he wanted to raise awareness of environmental issues by asking people to do something positive to help the planet. Switching off the lights for an hour can make a small difference to the amount of energy we use but Earth Hour is also a symbolic event to make people think about the problems of climate change.

Why March?

The end of March is around the time of the spring and autumn equinoxes in the northern and southern hemispheres respectively, so sunset times in both hemispheres are at similar times. This means that a global ‘lights out’ event has most visual impact at this time of year.

UK events

In 2013 in the UK, the pop group McFly gave a live acoustic performance (using no electricity!) dressed in panda costumes (the WWF’s logo is a panda) for Earth Hour. Celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc created special recipes for families to prepare and eat by candlelight. Actors and TV personalities including Kevin McCloud and Miranda Richardson recorded Rudyard Kipling's famous Just So Stories for families to listen to by candlelight.

As well as famous London landmarks such as Big Ben, the London Eye and Buckingham Palace switching off their lights, there are many other events around Britain. On the WWF’s interactive map you can see which people, businesses, schools, organisations and landmarks are taking part this year and what they are doing http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/#uk-map

#passthepanda

The WWF’s famous panda logo recently helped to promote Earth Hour. In 2014, the WWF asked their Facebook users to name a panda - not a real animal but a cute panda teddy bear. They chose some of the suggestions to name 60 panda teddy bears. These pandas were then passed around in the UK so that people could take photos of themselves with a bear and tweet a #passthepanda selfie to  @wwf_uk . The WWF also encouraged everyone to join in by tweeting a #passthepanda selfie of themselves either in panda costume or wearing panda face paints!

Read the text about Earth Hour and do the exercises to check your understanding.

1. Check your understanding: true or false

Circle True or False for these sentences.

1. Earth Hour events are held every year.
    True                  False

2. Earth Hour started in Malaysia in 2007.
    True                  False

3. Famous buildings switch on their lights for Earth Hour.
    True                  False

4. The World Wide Fund for Nature started Earth Hour to make people think about environmental issues.
    True                  False

5. It is spring in both the northern and southern hemispheres in March.
    True                  False

6. The WWF is represented by a panda.
    True                  False

7. British families are encouraged to use candles instead of electric lights for Earth Hour.
    True                  False

8. The WWF asked Facebook users to make panda teddy bears.
    True                  False

2. Check your understanding: gap fill

Complete the gaps with a word or phrase from the box.

2011                       2.2 million           2013         special food                     panda selfies                 the WWF          7,000            Stories

1. _______________ people in the city of Sydney turned off all non-essential lights for an hour in 2007.
2. _______________ cities and towns around the world turned off their lights for Earth Hour in 2013.
3. The international Space Station participated in Earth Hour in _______________ .
4. Andy Ridley works for _______________ and was born in Britain.
5. McFly performed without electricity in the UK for Earth Hour _______________ .
6. Gordon Ramsay helped families to make _______________ for Earth Hour.
7. _______________ by Rudyard Kipling were recorded for Earth Hour in 2013.
8. The WWF asked Facebook users to take _______________ to help promote Earth Hour

3. Check your vocabulary: matching
Match the vocabulary with the correct definition and write a-h next to the numbers 1-8.

1. ........switch off                              a. participate
2. .….. take part                                b. black and white bear
3. .….. come up with                         c. turn off
4. .….. raise awareness                     d. when day and night are the same length
5. …... sunset                                   e. inform people
6. .….. landmark                               f. very well-known building or place
7. .….. panda                                    g. when the sun disappears
8. .….. equinox                                 h. invent 

Answers

1. Check your understanding: true or false

    1. True 2. False 3. False 4. True 5. False 6. True 7. True 8. False

2. Check your understanding: gap fill

    1. 2.2 million 2. 7,000 3. 2011 4. the WWF 5. 2013 6. special food 7. Stories 8. panda selfies

3. Check your vocabulary: matching

    1. c 2. a 3. h 4. e 5. g 6. f 7. b 8. d