Lights off across Vietnam in response to Earth Hour

Thứ sáu, 1/4/2011 | 14:34 GMT+7

Thirty cities and provinces in Vietnam took part in the ‘Earth Hour’ environmental event from 8.30pm to 9.30pm local time on March 26, and saved 400,000kWh of electrical energy worth VND500 million.

Full of Earth Hour posters Major streets in the capital city of Hanoi such as Trang Tien, Hai Ba Trung, and Ly Thai To, were filled with many posters calling for people to take part in the campaign by turning off non-essential lights for one hour. Information about Earth Hour was disseminated to each household in each commune or ward. Lights went off en masse at the Ngoc Son temple in Hoan Kiem Lake, the Hanoi Opera House, and Trang Tien plaza. Hanoi Culture College hosted a meeting on the environment and climate change that was attended by representatives of various organizations in Hanoi, the World Wide Fund for Nature, and students at the college. When all the lights were switched off at 8.30pm, everyone at the meeting lit candles which shed a sparkling light. The same evening, many youth shows took place in response to the 2011 Earth Hour, including a singing festival for young people in the city. In the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, a music program was held with the participation of many singers including Vietnam Idol 2010 first runner-up Van Mai Huong, who is also Vietnam’s Goodwill Ambassador for Earth Hour 2011. On the morning of March 26, more than 500 communist youth members walked through inner-city streets to promote Earth Hour and power conservation. In the coastal tourist city of Hoi An, there was a wide array of Earth Hour activities such as displaying and screening images for Earth Hour, music festivals involving youth league members and other artists, local people and tourists. There were also flower sales to raise funds for the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. <img height="399" width="350" alt="" src="/UserFile/Files/ICON2021/CMSUpload/2011/4/Attachments/earth_hour2011a.jpg" /> Energy saving lights installed On March 26, a new power-saving public lighting system was installed in the square in Nha Trang City in the central province of Khanh Hoa. A wide range of Earth Hour activities attracted hundreds of youths and Earth Hour ambassadors of goodwill, who collected garbage and litter on beaches, rode bicycles to promote economizing on electricity and environmental protection, and  took part in a talk show on ‘conserving energy and protecting the environment’. The 2011 Earth Hour organizers also delivered 10,000 T-shirts with Earth Hour logos to young people and tourists on the occasion. Khanh Hoa has undertaken many activities since March 19 to raise public awareness of climate change and the environment. It also installed 20 lampposts using solar or wind energy. Businesses go green The Trade Cooperative Union of Ho Chi Minh City turned off its big logo illuminations and non-essential lighting at all Coop Mart supermarkets nationwide. In addition, the CoopMart chain also held a promotion from March 23-26 to encourage the use of environment-friendly shopping bags. Big C hypermarkets also invested VND13 billion in a series of energy-saving measures for their business operations. Meanwhile, FrieslandCampina Vietnam (FCV) reported that it saves billions of Vietnam dong (VND) annually thanks to effective waste water treatment and reducing electrical power consumption. To date, more than 4,600 organizations and businesses in Vietnam had registered to take part in Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a global event initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature. It was first launched in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, sparking a massive response from many countries around the globe. In 2010, Vietnam reported it reduced the use of electrical power by 500,000kWh during Earth Hour. Source: VOV News