Lights Out – Set the Stage for Earth Hour
On Saturday it is time for the 11th Earth Hour – but what is that exactly? The WWF Earth Hour was initiated 2007 in Sydney to set an example for climate protection. Millions of households participated and turned off the light for an hour. Earth Hour became a global phenomenon almost instantly and made history in the last years. It became one of the largest environmental campaign worldwide! In 2017 more than 7.000 cities and millions people – worldwide – will participate and turn off their lights again. Time to join in: Switch off your lights on Saturday, March 25th between 8:30PM and 9:30PM. The world darkens to spread the message: Climate is a joint effort!
Not only cities and households (yours?) participate in Earth Hour, but also quite a number of hotels which are devoted to climate protection. Many get really creative and don’t just switch off their lights.
Cooking Without Electricity
The Biohotel Grafenast in Austria came up with something special: Dinner will be cooked without electricity! They will serve cold dishes and specialities out of the wood-fired oven. Of course those will be served classy in romantic candlelight. The rest of the hotel will be plunged into darkness during Earth Hour.
Darkness Longer than an Hour
The Reethi Beach Resort on the Maldives dims the restaurant’s lights for the whole evening and awareness posters will be displayed for guests and staff. In addition they are planning a beach-cleaning event on a nearby uninhabited island for guests and employees alike.
Over two years ago the Reethi Beach Resort expanded on the Earth Hour idea of 60 minutes without light – to a monthly evening dedicated to sustainability. Performance of local music and dance, island cleaning, or screening of awareness movies are part of their regular program.
Earth Hour March Lit by Torches
The CGH Earth Hotels in India celebrated Earth Hour in many different ways. The Marari Beach entertains its guests with a show at the amphitheater with a few cultural dance programs like folk dances and Kalaripayattu. All this will be set in the lights of fire torches (pandham). Furthermore, the menu at the restaurant that night will be made with ingredients and food items sourced from nearby to reduce the carbon footprint. At Coconut Lagoon all restaurant operations for the evening will be shifted outdoors to the lawns where guests will be served dinner in the light of traditional lamps. The entire Spice Village shuts down its electricity during Earth Hour. The restaurant is moved outside to the bright red flame trees (Gulmohar), the complete area is bathed in traditional lamps and fire torches. The guests are entertained with a cultural show. The staff plans an “Earth Hour” march into town to spread awareness about the event. That’s what we call commitment!
Lights Out: Bring Out the Candles
The Gloria Verde Resort in Turkey also takes part in Earth Hour! The environmentally friendly resort turns off the lights for the hour – very traditional. Guest can enjoy the charming ambience of a candlelight dinner at one of Gloria Verde’s restaurants. They also created a flyer for all Gloria Hotels & Resorts in regards to Earth Hour. The “SAND” Lifestylehotel will reduce its heating by 2 degree Celsius to help with the reduction of carbon emissions. Don’t worry, guests won’t have to freeze the SAND is also otherwise sustainable for example with triple glazing.
