A week after Guadalajara city hall launched a program to illuminate city buildings at night, lights all across the metro area will be turned off for one hour on Saturday, March 29 as the world unites in a symbolic gesture designed to generate greater awareness for the environmental hazards facing the planet.
Earth Hour 2014 is scheduled to run from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during participants’ local time. Governments, businesses and householders are asked to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour.
Jalisco Environment Secretary Juan Carlos Vasquez says lights at 150 emblematic government buildings in Guadalajara will go dark during the designated hour.The mass switch off started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and now encompasses more than 150 countries and 7,000 cities worldwide.
Although many nations have reported falls in electricity demand during the one-hour event, some critics say the symbolic action has minimal effect on energy or carbon reduction levels for the hour itself.
However, Earth Hour proponents say the initiative is only designed to encourage people to take “accountability for their ecological footprint and engage in dialogue and resource exchange that provides real solutions to environmental challenges.”