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Earth Hour Challenge: Everyone in Santa Fe is Urged to Switch Off Non-Essential Lights on Saturday March 23rd from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

SANTA FE, NM — At 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2013, hundreds of millions of people across the globe will switch off the lights of homes and businesses for one hour—Earth Hour—the largest environmental action in human history. This simple step brings our voices together to collectively say “We Care” and to make the commitment to take action and take better care of the planet in the years ahead. Earth Hour is a great opportunity for you, your organization, or business to step forward and be a leader in your community.

Councilor Patti Bushee said of this challenge, “It is so important to raise awareness of how we’re treating our planet—particularly with drought conditions and climate change. Turning lights out for an hour is a great first step, but we all need to do more to ensure the future of our environment.”

Showing support of this action the Santa Fe City Council adopted a resolution on March 13, 2013 accepting the Earth Hour City Challenge of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and encouraging governmental entities, businesses and the residents of the city of Santa Fe to participate in Earth Hour, WWF’s annual campaign to raise awareness of environmental challenges.

Councilor Chris Calvert wants people to make lifestyle changes, “not for just an hour, but forever.” He explained, “I encourage everyone to participate on Saturday, but making small changes in our daily lives will have the greatest impact overall. This one hour of conservation symbolizes a much larger effort.”

Councilor Carmichael Dominguez states, “I want my children and grandchildren to inherit a clean, safe and environmentally conscious earth. We’ll be turning our lights out for an hour on Saturday, but I want to teach my kids more ways to conserve, reduce, or reuse.”

Councilor Ron Trujillo wants everyone in Santa Fe to switch off their lights for an hour on Saturday, “to realize just how precious our environment is–be it conserving electricity, reducing water use, or other natural resources. We all need to be more aware of how we can make small steps to conserve and preserve the environment.”

”Earth Hour is symbolic of the greater effort to conserve and protect our planet. I’d like for everyone to participate on Saturday, and to do more. We all can do more,” said Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Wurzburger.

Councilor Peter Ives said that Earth Hour “represents an opportunity for people to come together to demonstrate their engagement and intention with regard to living conscientiously and sustainably.”

It does not matter how big your business or organization is, every contribution is valuable and has the power to make a difference. Switch off the lights of your premises and encourage your staff, family members or customers to participate in Earth Hour too. You are in a great position to take action and inspire more efforts that go beyond the hour by implementing practices and offering services that enable them to make ongoing changes.

Join hundreds of thousands of committed individuals and businesses around the world in leading global environmental change. Switch off non-essential lights. For larger buildings, plan ahead with facilities and building managers to arrange the logistics of switching off non-essential lighting for Earth Hour – including neon lights – in and around your properties.

Spread the word by encouraging your friends and neighbors to participate and by “liking” www.SustainableSantaFeNM on facebook and inviting your facebook friends to “like” it as well.  Sign up to follow #SustainableSFNM on Twitter to get reminders as Earth Hour approaches.

Go beyond the hour with your personal, organizational, and/or business practices.  Earth Hour is not just for one hour. It’s about making a commitment to ongoing change that reduces your impact on the environment and celebrating your commitment to the planet with the people of the world during Earth Hour. Here are some of the ways your business can start to reduce its impact on the planet today and reduce operational costs at the same time. Other actions you can take in your business include:

·         Turn off lights after hours in offices or install motion-sensor lighting.
·         Install energy-saving light bulbs and devices (e.g. timers on lighting.)
·         Minimize printing and photocopying.
·         Do not print out emails unless absolutely necessary.
·         Turn off printers, computers, monitors, microwaves and coffee machines at the power points at the end of the day when unused for long periods (this could shave off 5% of your electricity bills).
·         Try public transportation for a week instead of driving.
·         Provide recycling bins and encourage staff to use recycling facilities.
·         Switch your business’s electricity to Gold Standard Green Power.
·         Involve your staff in everyday change.
·         Elect Earth Hour Monitors for your business, whose job it is to ensure lights are out and appliances are off standby at the end of each working day.
·         When communicating with tenants, customers, other offices and staff, make sure they are aware that your involvement in Earth Hour symbolizes your commitment to go beyond the hour with an action that benefits the environment.

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