City schools sign up to Earth Hour campaign
22/03/13
Twenty-three Aberdeen schools have signed up to get involved in the WWF's Earth Hour.
Aberdeen City Council has again signed up to the WWF initiative which encourages people, businesses and organisations, to switch off their lights at a set time to demonstrate support for people and wildlife threatened by climate change.
Pupils and staff at school across the city have joined the environmental campaign. The city council has agreed to leave several city landmarks in the dark for the weekend, from tonight [Friday], as Aberdeen joins cities around the world to mark Earth Hour 2013.
Floodlights will be switched off at key city landmarks from today for the whole weekend. The switch off will include:
•Marischal College – Broad Street floodlights;
•Wallace Monument and gardens;
•St Marks Church;
•St Nicholas Kirkyard façade
The official switch off takes place at 8.30pm on Saturday [23 March], when thousands of people across Scotland, and millions across the globe, will switch off their lights for an hour.
Work to promote this year's Earth Hour initiative has earned the council an Earth Hour Super Local Authority Badge from campaign organisers WWF for two years running.
In 2012, a record 152 countries took part for the biggest call to action for the protection of the planet.
This year's Earth Hour is celebrating the power of nature - the way renewable energy can move us away from fossil fuels and help reduce global carbon emissions. This is especially important in Scotland with our wealth of natural assets such as wind, tidal and wave.
WWF is encouraging individuals, community groups and local organisations to join in with the switch off.
To register for this year's event visit: www.wwfscotland.org.uk/earthhour