300 companies, and counting, to switch off their lights
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 19 Mar 09;
CORPORATE enthusiasm for the colour green is certainly more infectious now than last year — just ask the organisers of Earth Hour in Singapore.
A team of three from the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature have been targeting buildings in the business and shopping districts. With about a week to go before lights go off for an hour from 8.30pm next Saturday, about 300 organisations have signed up, exceeding the number WWF Singapore had approached, said campaign manager Carine Seror.
“It’s the snowball effect. Once you have some on board, the others might hear about it and they would just call and ask, how can we do it?” she said.
Compare it to just “a few dozen” organisations last year, which Ms Seror attributes to a lack of awareness and outreach, not a lack of interest.
With the prevailing economic gloom, Earth Hour is also a good opportunity for companies and their employees to “talk about something else that’s inspiring and fun”, said Ms Seror.
Corporates that have come on board include CapitaLand, Sentosa Leisure Group, Wisma Atria, Canon Singapore, National Geographic Channel and Parkroyal hotels.
Some are even going regional. Canon, for example, will switch off its neon billboards across South and South-east Asia, including one on Orchard Road. National Geographic Channel will be doing a “channelblackout” of programmes and will run environmental factoids across the screen instead in South-east Asia and Hong Kong. Developer CapitaLand is pulling in 106 of its properties in the region and Australia, with 29 in Singapore, including Raffles City and Bugis Junction, switching off their façade lights, up from 14 last year.
It is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to cut electricity and water usage, said CapitaLand’s spokesperson. Last year, CapitaLand Singapore shaved $1.9 million off its utility bills, and electricity usage was cut by 4.3 per cent.
This year also marks Singapore’s first official participation in Earth Hour, with Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar pledging support and so too landmarks such as the Merlion, the Singapore Flyer and the Esplanade.
On the individual level, enthusiasm for Earth Hour seems less infectious. “Like any habit, it takes time to change, but (change) is definitely happening,” said Mr Wilson Ang from Eco Singapore. Last year, the group sent volunteers to Hougang to knock on doors. This year, 1,200 student volunteers will fan out across the island to get pledges from households.
The Housing and Development Board has informed WWF Singapore of 1,000 individuals who have agreed to participate, said Ms Seror. No matter what the participation, Earth Hour is still a “starting point” to engage companies and the public.
“It’s not by switching off the lights for one hour that we’re going to save the world,” said Ms Seror. “Now that you’ve pledged your support and switched off the lights, how can you do more?”
More links See the Earth Hour Singapore blog for a wide range of events organised by NGOs for Earth Hour.
