Dim the lights to celebrate Earth Hour

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image 

Kevin Coombs gives Bible reading during Earth Hour candlelight service last year.

The stars could shine brighter over Portage and Main tonight as a host of buildings at the intersection and around Winnipeg take a symbolic stand against climate change and turn out the lights.

Winnipeggers will join more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries to mark Earth Hour, a World Wildlife Fund effort to get people to flick the switch on non-essential lights and appliances for an hour to draw attention to climate change. Around Portage Avenue and Main Street, tenants of Canwest Place, The Fairmont, the Bank of Montreal building, Winnipeg Square, the Richardson Building and the RBC Building at Portage Avenue and Fort Street have all been asked to turn out non-essential lights at 8:30 p.m. Winnipeggers can dine in candlelight at the Fairmont, and the giant video screen at the intersection will display a dimly lit Earth Hour message, with the power turned down.

A lot of the office lights would likely be off already on a Saturday, but the event is a good reminder for people to think about energy conservation, said spokesman Bruce Leslie with Creswin Properties, which oversees tenants in Canwest Place. "We're already cognizant of our energy consumption," he said.

At St. Andrew's River Heights United Church, parishioners will gather an hour earlier for a candlelight service, along with guest speaker Josh Brandon with Resource Conservation Manitoba. Brandon said he'll talk about ways people can make more sustainable lifestyle choices, "and hopefully give people inspiration to continue thinking about extending Earth Hour throughout the year."

"It's important to take that symbolic step and start thinking about the changes that we can make once a year, but unless you live that out throughout the rest of the year, the impact's going to be pretty small," he said.

The provincial government will dim its lights in some buildings for an hour, as will the City of Winnipeg, albeit starting half an hour earlier. Some inside and outside lights will stay on for security reasons.

McDonald's restaurants will darken some outside signage, Kildonan Place Shopping Centre will be partially in the dark, and Red River College plans to flick the switch and only leave emergency lights glowing at its campuses.

Around Manitoba, the communities of Ste. Anne, Grandview and Virden will also host Earth Hour events, according to the website www.earthhour.org. People who sign up online get a chance to win a trip to see Churchill's famed polar bears.

lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 28, 2009 B2