Earth Hour 2013
Very often, we do not realize that the things we use around us contributes to the demise of our world due to the pollution it creates to the environment. For example, leaving our lights or computers on for no particular reason… accumulatively, it takes a toll on mother Earth.
As Buddhists, protecting the environment is something that we should do naturally. Why? Because through Dharma, we practice selflessness, mindfulness, compassion and wisdom… all of which, when we put to practice, should mean that we gradually transform ourselves into becoming more conscious people… and through this consciousness, we are more aware of every action, especially those that may bring harm to others, including our environment.
I am very happy to see that the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, will be joining WWF’s Earth Hour! It sets a very good example for our beautiful Malaysian people on the importance of preserving our environment for our future generations.
Will you be joining Earth Hour on the 23rd March 2013?
Tsem Rinpoche
Kuala Lumpur Joins The World To Mark The Earth Hour 2013
6 March 2013 Kuala Lumpur : Join over 1 Billion people throughout the World in turning off our lights for one hour on Saturday Night, 23rd March, 2013 at 8:30 PM! This marks the City of Kuala Lumpur’s inaugural participation in this event and they will join over 7,000 cities and across 152 countries to make a statement about reducing our carbon footprint.
The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal b. Hj. Talib today officially announced Kuala Lumpur City Hall partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF- Earth Hour (Malaysia) to create awareness on environmental sustainability – the symbolic switching off of all non-essential lights throughout Kuala Lumpur. Also presence at the launch; Dr Sundari Ramakrishna, WWF-Malaysia’s Conservation Director and Mr Vennile Rajamanickam, the General Manager of Philips Malaysia.
A WWF initiative, Earth Hour is a simple idea that has quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people switching off their lights for one hour, on the same night, to signal their care for the amazing planet we call home. Starting from a one-city initiative in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour now has grown to the world’s largest campaign for the planet, takes place in more than 7,000 cities and towns in 150 countries and territories around the world.
In Kuala Lumpur, although there have been activities held in conjunction with Earth Hour in previous years, 2013 is the first year that Kuala Lumpur is officially participating with an effort coordinated and spearheaded by DBKL. In his address, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur said that he hoped that this inaugural event would get the full support of all KL residents and businesses. “I really urge all KL-ites and business community to unite and give your support for this year’s Earth Hour. It is simple. Just switch off the non-essential lighting on 23rd March 2013, only for one hour.” said Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. “But of course the security lighting, any obstruction lighting, emergency lighting and lights in occupied offices will remain lit”, added the Mayor.
Leading by example, the Mayor announced that all Kuala Lumpur City Hall offices will turn off all lightings and appliances and issued a challenge to all KL residents to follow this action. Under I WILL, IF YOU WILL campaign, the Mayor have declared his commitment to ride a bicycle to work on the 25th of March if at least 50 buildings in KL committed to switching off their lights for an hour.
Earth Hour Kuala Lumpur will precede Lights Out Petronas Twin Towers on 23rd March by the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. This global iconic landmark with 88 floors on both tower, has committed to go dark for one hour, and the @alive Concert will switch to a glow in the dark performances and celebrate the Earth Hour. In a symbolic gesture to show their commitment to switching off the lights of our global icon Petronas Twin Towers, the CEO of KLCC Holdings Sdn. Bhd., En. Hashim Wahir officially accepted the Mayor’s challenge on “I will if you will”. Joining him in their official acceptance of the challenge was Dato Zuraidah Bt. Mohd Said, the CEO of KL Tower, Joyce Yap representing the Bukit Bintang KLCC Council, Mr Andrew from the heritage building of KL City Gallery and Mr Ralph Justin Dixon representing YTL Corp. Berhad.
Switch Off KL is an integral part of the event coupled with the Earth Hour educational talks to the public on the environment and conserving energy by Philips Malaysia. “Philips Lighting will be encouraging consumers to make the simple switch to energy-efficient lighting solutions like LED beyond the hour that will result in a greener and more sustainable lighting solution, now and for the future”, said Vennila Rajamanikam, General Manager of Philips Lighting Malaysia.
Commenting on the partnership on the Earth Hour with Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Dr. Sundari Ramakrishna, WWF-Malaysia’s Conservation Director said “WWF-Malaysia acknowledged that over the years, DBKL has implemented several environmental initiatives such as recycling programs, green building initiatives, tree planting activities and improvement in public transportation to reduce emission as part of efforts to mitigate climate change. So, this partnership is timely and we hope to be able to work closely with the KL City Hall on other environmental conservations project in the future”.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal also highlighted some of the tourism initiatives taken by DBKL to promote eco-friendly ways for tourists to explore the city. Among them were the recently launched KL By Cycle tours and the Dataran Merdeka Heritage Walking Tours. He also said that DBKL were committed to supporting international events in the city that had an eco-friendly theme to them, such as the OCBC Cycle Malaysia and the KL Standard Chartered Marathon.
Everyone in Kuala Lumpur is encouraged to participate in this historic event – turn off your lights, celebrate the planet and to accept the Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s “I will IF you will” challenge. Log on www.dbkl.gov.my orwww.visitkl.gov.my for details.
Contact Puan Noraza Yusof, Head of Tourism, Kuala Lumpur City Hall at 013-3399915 or email norazayusof@gmail.com for further information.
Let’s all turn out and take action on March 23 at 8:30 P.M.
[Source: http://www.wwf.org.my/?15320%2FKuala-Lumpur-Joins-The-World-To-Mark-The-Earth-Hour-2013]
The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal b. Hj. Talib and WWF-Malaysia Conservation Director, Dr Sundari Ramakrishna at the media conference.
The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal b. Hj. Talib delivering his speech at the media conference.
WWF-Malaysia, Conservation Director Dr Sundari Ramakrishna delivering her speech at the media conference.
The Petronas Twin Towers, during Earth Hour in 2009.
Images of WWF Earth Hour promotions
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The main objective of this event which is held annually , encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights . Earth Hour is celebrated worldwide to show support for the fight against climate change and commitment towards a better planet. Well a wonderful idea and is an opportunity for millions of people world wide in support of nature and our planet. More countries are joining hands to combat the problems they are facing in fighting a cooler climate. By switching off our lights for one hour, we can make a substantial difference in energy consumption and can help reduce the effect of global warming on this planet. Earth Hour motivates people to look beyond the hour and has become a major catalyst for positive environmental impact. Its very important to preserving our environment for our future generations. Glad that Malaysia had joined the World to mark The Earth Hour in 2013.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
记得刚开始地球日时还是很多人无视这日子，有些还会不满的说搞什么花样等等的负面话。现在经过几年的举办大家开始注意和关注了，也会互相通告和提醒因为大家都醒觉了。再不保护遭殃的还是我们人类。
每年的3月20号被称为地球日，是一个对环保有意义的节日。地球是大家的，大众都有责任保护它。如果地球环境一直严重的被污染，以后所有的一切众生或生物都会被破坏和受影响。
谢谢仁波切的分享跟提醒，祈愿地球有佛法的加持和可以成为佛法的佛净土。
It is so good to know that Malaysia is taking part in Earth Hour.
I hope that more people will participate in this..
Thank you for sharing this article with us.
I think earth hour is just such a good idea. And im am glad that Malaysia is doing it as well this year. Its nice to do something for the better of the environment. I hope that more people will participate in this, and may the world and environment become healthier.
I heard that some people would say that the one hour of ‘Earth Hour’ wouldn’t make any difference. I used to think like that too, but I came to realize that the amount of hour does not matter. It’s the awareness this project creates that reminds us to be more mindful and practise the Eco friendly way.
I think this is a very wonderful campaign to support and it would save the earth too.
I’m glad that Malaysia took part this is campaign. It will definitely inspire more people to go ‘green’.
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
I love Earth Hour and wish it could happen more than just once a year. If we switched off our lights for an hour a month, we would save so much of the earth’s resources! People would also stop watching TV, kids would stop playing Xbox and families would talk to each other. Also candles are very romantic 🙂
Yes i am a hippy at heart but if we don’t think of the earth now because we think we won’t be around when the ozone layer finally depletes or we run out of fossil fuels etc, guess what – if we believe in reincarnation, we will still be around! So let’s take care of the earth for ourselves, if we cannot even begin to think about others. Save water, save electricity – reuse, reduce and recycle!
The Earth Hour is very good idea, when we turn off the light for one hour, that does not mean we just turn it off and wait for the one hour to pass, it is for us to realize the amount of electricity we’ve been using and that brings so much damage to our home planet, so when we turned off the light, we learn to be more aware about the environment around us.
I think it will be better if we practice this more often, because it will be good to our planet and also ourselves.
I am so happy to see this happening and happening here in Malaysia. We need our country to participate and be more active about such humanitarian causes. Not just for the earth, for the animals too which I strongly feel we are still not quite there in terms of animal welfare and funds.
However, I do think this Earth Hour event is a stepping stone to I hope many more such events that brings about a positive change in our society. Since we are a developing nation, and materialism is rising, it is easy to forget we are all children of this planet. This helps to reminds us that our existence has a connection with the earth, our planet, ourselves and others which we so often forget in the midst of the chaos in consuming more. We have used and abused mother nature… it is high time we give back! Thank you.
Dear Rinpoche,
It is nice to have a lot of people in both Malaysia and around the world to participate in such a wonderful Environment friendly event!
I just saw the news for 2013’s Earth Hour and I am totally amazed how so many famous tourist buildings like the Eiffel Tower and many other famous tourist spots and even residents and workers staying/working in high rise buildings also joined!
Sad to hear that since 2009 every year there has been an decrease of people in Malaysia participating in a great event like this.
To me it is actually quite easy to just turn of all the lights in one’s home or office for just one short hour.
Though it may be only for one hour every year I don’t see the reason why people should not participate because even though we are only offing the lights for one hour, if at least half of the world participates imagine how much benefit it would bring to the earth as well as our pockets?
I hope that in years to come more and more people will join Earth Hour so that they reduce carbon footprints as well as save one hour worth of electricity bills.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article with us and lease rest well
Love
Jutika
I always wanted to participate in this cause by contributing to that hour but I always tend to miss it, hopefully next one coming and may be able to contribute. A lot of us take electricity, power, water, etc for granted. Its when we have black outs, water shortages do we only then realise how much we need it. Its hard to grasp this concept and only want to act selfish when it comes to you so easily that we can take advantage of it. Showering for long hours, leaving air cons on the whole day, tv left on washing your car with excess amounts of water etc.If one day all this was taken away from us, men would have a very difficult time of coping. Wonder how long we can live without internet? Hehe
I think that this is a very educational program. People then will experience the life of the people living in some small shacks, and hopefully that people will learn to use the electricity wisely. I missed it this year, I will definitely participate in this wonderful program next year. And also it’s Mumu’s birthday today! Happy Birthday Mumu! May you always be healthy.
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche.
Love, beatrix.
I’ve been participating Earth Hour for the past 2 years and I’m planning to do it again this year! A great idea by Andy Ridley for starting the Earth Hour campaign which aims to encourage less usage of electricity.
We all know that the program itself is not something that decreases the production of pollution for just that 1 hour, but it is the very awareness of this program that is so beneficial. How people slowly but surely learn about not wasting or over using the resources we get from our planet unnecessarily. I think this is the very first step of creating awareness and mindfulness in our every action.
Everything we do, affects our environment… it’s high time that we be more mindful of our actions to create safe guard the future. Hmm… doesn’t this Earth Hour project feels a little bit Buddhistic? hehe… to be mindful of the consequences of our actions =)
How cool is this! Environmental awareness is on the rise. I am not a very environmentally aware person myself but I love this initiative and its done locally! Wow. I don’t know if people are aware that being environmentally-friendly is realizing the interdependency of all beings. Which is actually one of the core realizations of the Buddha.
This is the truth and we all know that everything humankind do will directly impact the environment and at the moment we don’t live on another world and so we have to experience the repercussions. On top of that, we share this world with a multitude of unseen beings all over this planet. Some are benign while others may be malevolent when their homes have been ruined by pollution. Then, when we really think about it, pollution and the wanton destruction of our natural resources is due to sheer greed. Therefore, it is our delusions that is destroying our world.
Great way to create awareness on natural resources. With the Earth Hour campaign, i hope more people treasure our earth to avoid more pollution…
It is interesting how Malaysia is willing to participate in such a global event. I have never actually participated in Earth Hour as I usually did not notice it when it was happening or I was at a place where turning of the lights may make everyone angry 😛 I hope I can remember Earth Hour this year as I love the environment Hehe
It is so good to know that Malaysia is taking part in Earth Hour this year. It is really good that a lot of people taking part in this beautiful cause and also the effort in making this worldwide. I will support and have the effort to be part of this. Kechara Viva Home will be participating in this event from 8.30pm till 9.30pm and switching of some of the lights.
This is indeed wonderful news that Malaysia will join in a program that is on an international platform… moreover it will instill in us “city folk” what it feels like to be in darkness, even if it is for a little while. We will then realise how fortunate we truly are!
Not only does Earth Hour potentially gives us such realizations but also is a wonderful way to load shed for our power company and also imagine the power savings that one mere hour has multiplied that by the many cities around the world participating. Its a step in reducing our carbon footprint!