Have you pledged to join the Earth Hour blackout?

Grace Chua, Straits Times 5 Mar 10;

ON THE last Saturday of this month, the lights will be switched off - and will stay off - for one hour in several buildings and homes here.

The exercise in deliberate darkness, to be observed globally, is aimed at raising awareness of climate change and saving energy.

Last year, Earth Hour drew support from 500 groups here.

With three weeks still to go, 160 organisations - and counting - have signed up to take part this time. Including individuals and schools, the number of participants now stands at 6,000.

Worldwide, more than five million individuals and groups have pledged to pass the hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on March 27 in darkness.

Here, a free concert will rock Esplanade Park to mark the hour.

Conservation agency World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which has run this global energy-conservation initiative since 2007, wants the mindset to stretch beyond 60 minutes.

'The tagline this year is 'Earth Hour, Every Hour',' said WWF Singapore managing director Amy Ho. 'Instead of making it about figures, our aim is to ask people to make a long-term commitment to saving energy.'

Among the 160 organisations which have signed up, such as CapitaLand, McDonald's and main sponsor SingTel, many are indeed upping the ante.

Property developer CapitaLand will switch off the lights on the facades of its more than 180 properties here and overseas for 10 hours, from 8.30pm until 6.30am the next day. The long blackout is a nod to the company's 10th anniversary, it said.

SingTel is also going one further. Besides switching off the lights in its buildings, it is urging its more than 23,000 employees here and in Australia to pledge to do so at home as well.

It will also broadcast Earth Hour messages to its customers through SMS and its website.

Asked whether these messages might offset the energy saved, its spokesman said Earth Hour was about creating public awareness. He added that the firm already had energy-saving measures in place, such as cutting back on air-conditioning.

The festivities at the Esplanade Park attracted more than 2,000 people last year, and market research firm The Nielsen Company reckoned from extrapolations that 1.5 million people were in on the event here.

Since the first Earth Hour in 2007, the movement has spread to more than 4,000 cities in 88 countries.

WWF Singapore said the list of landmarks here to be blacked out will be confirmed next week.

Those who wish to pledge their support or take part in Earth Hour events may visit http://earthhour.wwf.sg