Taj Mahal to go dark on Saturday as Earth Hour initiative

22 March, 2013

Green initiative is taking a big step towards awareness and as a part of the an initiative on Saturday night, monuments such as Sydney Harbour Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Brandenburg Gate, Burj Khalifa tower, the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal and Table Mountain would go dark during Earth Hour. With this step, activists are trying to spread as much awareness as possible about the green initiative.

Earth Hour, which originated in Sydney in 2007, is an initiative that appeals people, businessmen to turn off their lights for an hour so that issues like climate change, alternative fuels can be driven home among the people. People in India also took part in the events with enthusiasm and this time also on Saturday at 8:30pm, monuments are supposed to darken for some time.

The Earth Hour would be observed in 150 countries that would include first timers such as Tunisia, Galapagos, Suriname, French Guiana, St. Helena and Rwanda, according to NDTV. The project was launched by WWF, and according to the co-founder of the project, Andy Riley, last year the initiative was being followed in 7,000 communities and it has seen a growth of 30 percent in 2011.

Although Ridley says that there is no official data to measure total energy saved by Earth Hour but then awareness level is increasing that is sure to have a sustained effect.