Earth Hour, an initiative that encourages people all over the world to turn off electricity for an hour as a way to raise awareness of climate change and "connect hearts for a change on our planet", has no significant impact on the environment.
By Melissa Pereira
At 8.30pm on March 30 in London, and at 7.30am in Australia, the world will be slightly darker than we are used to, with Earth Hour set to happen.
Earth Hour is a worldwide, non-profitable movement that started in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Its aim is to create an interactive way to raise awareness on the use of energy and the effects it can have on our planet when used carelessly.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, millions of people take part in this event every year, with 188 countries celebrating it in 2018.
Father-of-four Eduardo Costa is a firm believer in energy saving and believes “the Earth Hour is an excellent way to connect hearts for a change on our planet, instead of connecting electronics".
Excessive energy consumption is one of the main factors of climate change and switching off the lights for a short period can lead to a reduction of light pollution. But it has little to no long-term impact on the unstable weather.
"The concept of the hour is trying to be a group action, a global action, so it has to be something most people can do," explains Lian Lundy, a professor of environmental science.
"In terms of actually tackling the energy usage by switching off lights, it's only one hour on an annual basis. So in terms of actually reducing energy usage, it is minimal," she continues.
Lian also claims that the key to improvement is changing a couple of our everyday activities. According to Lian, on average in the UK we use around 125 litres of water per person, per day. About 70% of that is from flushing the toilet.
She says an excellent way to reduce the waste would be by using water saving devices within toilets, “like a couple of bricks”, or to take shorter showers.
Eduardo on the other hand, thinks it is more beneficial to encourage children to switch off electronic devices and read more books.