City to 'Go Beyond the Hour'

Heal the world

With ‘Go beyond the hour’ being the theme this year, the voluntary black out will last for more than an hour.

About 125 shops and establishments under the Bangalore Trade Association will switch off lights for an hour from 8.30 pm.

Lights off

* Woodlands Hotel will shut down power in all its stores and light candles or lanterns for an hour.

* Apart from switching off lights, the ING Vysya Bank will inaugurate its first solar-powered ATM at BTM Layout.

Incidentally, the bank’s participation in the previous years has seen a 20 per cent reduction in power consumption and 10 per cent (25 lakh litre) reduction in the use of water.

* The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) will hold a signature campaign at the arrival and departure terminals. Baggage tags will have ‘Earth Hour’ messages and people will hold lit candles at 8.30 pm outside the waiting area of the airport.

* Candle light demonstrations will also be held at the Forum Mall, Forum Value Mall, Garuda Mall and Sigma Mall.

* Taj Hotels will turn off lights in its five properties –– Taj West End, Vivanta by Taj on MG Road and Whitefield, The Gateway Hotel and Kuteeram –– for an hour. 

In addition, information on ‘Earth Hour’ will be sent to the staff through e-mail, newsletters, posters, intranet, SMS, staff associations and committees. It also intends to light candles on all the tables in its restaurants and canteens.

* ITC Gardenia and ITC Windsor will be serving a candle-lit dinner. The hotel follows a concept called ‘Responsible Luxury’.

During the ‘Luxury Hour’, lights are dimmed at the Upper Crust between 6 pm and 8 pm of ITC Gardenia and between 7 pm and 11 pm at the lobby and atrium as an ‘Evening Ritual’ at ITC Windsor.

* Wipro observed the Earth Hour on Friday, since March 26 falls on a weekend. The one-hour shut down in all its facilities resulted in saving more than 19,000 units of power.

About Earth Hour

In 2007, 2.2 million people and over 2,000 companies and shops in Sydney, Australia turned off their lights for one hour to draw attention to climate change.

Today, as many as 128 countries participate in the Earth Hour.