Christchurch has become the first New Zealand city to commit to Earth Hour, global movement that will see millions of people and businesses in cities around the world turning out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 29 at 8pm to show their commitment to fighting climate change.
All organisations are being encouraged to join the WWF-led initiative which uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver powerful message about the need for action on global warming. The event demonstrates the importance of people taking simple steps every day that collectively reduce carbon emissions by turning off lights and unused appliances.
Earth Hour was pioneered in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million Sydney-siders and over 1100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights. This year Earth Hour has become global movement, gaining worldwide momentum with cities from San Francisco to Copenhagen set to turn off their lights for Earth Hour. To date, 24 cities have committed to Earth Hour.
Heritage Christchurch is doing its bit to support the city’s activities with special candlelit dinner with organic ingredients in Maddison’s restaurant prepared by chef Uwe Braun. Hotel lights will also be dimmed and switched off wherever possible, and guests will be asked to participate.
“As Green Globe hotel, we believe business participation is very important and we are delighted to support this great initiative,” says Gary Jarvis, general manager Heritage Christchurch.
Heritage Hotels has been part of Green Globe since 2002, and has the largest commitment of hotel inventory Green Globe benchmarked for sustainability in the country. Heritage Christchurch has also just conducted pilot scheme for sustainable conferences and banquets.
For more information visit www.earthhour.org
