The City of Ann Arbor encourages residents and businesses to voluntarily observe a world-wide “Earth Hour” and turn off unnecessary lights on Saturday, March 26 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Participating residents and businesses may officially sign up for this effort by pledging to turn off lights for one hour on the national Earth Hour website. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lighting accounts for roughly 22 percent of U.S. electricity consumption and is a significant contributor to our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign and has grown into a grassroots initiative with participants across the globe. Ann Arbor joined the effort in 2008 as one of 371 cities in 35 countries to participate in Earth Hour.

Street lights along one block of Main Street will be turned off during Earth Hour as a demonstration of Ann Arbor’s commitment to fighting greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in addition to practicing year-round energy conservation at municipal buildings and street fixtures.

However, for public safety, other street lights and traffic lights will not be turned off during the Earth Hour observation. Ann Arbor is a leader in the development of energy-efficient light emitting diode (LED) street lighting, which has reduced municipal energy use and significantly reduced light pollution. Municipal facilities will observe “lights out” procedures for non-essential illumination during this hour.

According to Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje, “Participating in the global Earth Hour demonstrates Ann Arbor’s commitment to supporting energy-efficient practices to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and help reverse the effects of climate change.”

Ann Arbor businesses and residents wishing to display an Earth Hour flyer in their windows to show their support for this event may download a poster online from the Earth Hour web site. The 2011 Earth Hour videos are also posted online. Information on the city’s energy goals and programs is available at www.a2gov.org/energy.

Nancy Stone is the Communications Liaison for Public Services at the City of Ann Arbor. She can be reached at nstone@a2gov.org. Visit www.a2gov.org for more information on local environmental topics including recycling, composting, water conservation, and choices for green living.

Your World provides local environmental information to our community. Contributing partners include: Washtenaw County’s Environmental Health Division; the nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor; the City of Ann Arbor’s Public Services Area, Natural Area Preservation, Systems Planning programs for Energy, Environmental Coordination, Solid Waste, Transportation, and Water Resources.