The Village of Keremeos is not engaging Princeton in their friendly Earth Hour competition this year, as they were too late to challenge the Similkameen sister community.
Over the past two years, the friendly rivalry encouraged villagers to make the pledge to Fortis, which resulted in the Keremeos Legion winning $5,000 in energy upgrades to their building in 2011.
This year, Keremeos residents can take the pledge on behalf of the Keremeos Elks in the hopes that they will prevail.
Take the pledge at:
http://www.fortisbc.com/electricity/powersense/inyourcommunity/earthhour/Pages/default.aspx
However, Environment Minister Terry Lake encourages British Columbians to participate in Earth Hour 2013 by turning off unnecessary lights and electronics between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.
“Earth Hour is the perfect time to reflect on the impact that we - as individuals and collectively - have on this planet,” said Lake.
“The B.C. government will do its part by shutting off the Jubilee Lights at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria for the fifth year in a row. In fact, thanks to careful management of building control systems, many provincial government offices have non-essential lights and electronics turned off after business hours every day of the year.”
According to BC Hydro, Earth Hour 2012 saw provincewide electrical power consumption drop by 1.67 per cent during those 60 minutes, equivalent to turning off about nine million 12.5-watt LED light bulbs. Revelstoke had the highest reduction in energy use in the province at 12.1 per cent.
Earth Hour is hosted globally by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when individuals and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a symbolic stand against climate change.
This week, the City of Vancouver was crowned WWF’s 2013 Global Earth Hour Capital, beating out 66 other cities across the globe for its innovative actions on climate change and dedication to create a sustainable, pleasant urban environment for current and future residents.