Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

Picture Hat Tip: Anat Mosberg Ynet
700,000 light bulbs were turned off yesterday on a Tel Aviv night between 8 and 9 o’clock as part of the Earth Hour, a global campaign to fight energy waste. Launched last year in Sidney Australia, the Earth Hour campaign has recruited aboard many major cities across the world. The citizens of Tel Aviv showed solidarity with the green cause and demonstrated that they care about global warming. Many of the city’s main business centers turned of their lights, and residents were encouraged to do the same. Coffee houses served their customers in the dark by sparkling candlelights. Customers discovered that saving electricity can actually be quite romantic!

Until 8 o’clock in the evening no one could predict how many citizens would be participating. But according to statistics, thousands of households turned off their lights turning the campaign a success. As the cultural heart of Israel, the Tel Aviv campaigners hope that the message will inspire the rest of the country.

You may not believe the extent of impact of this seemingly small scale act. One hour of blackout saves dozens of thousands tones of emitted greenhouse gases that damage the environment. The message of this campaign is straight forward - you can and should control your electric consumption. It is our individual and collective responsibility. We cannot trust governments to take it on because they simply won’t . At least not without our encouragement, and in many cases -protest. Politicians take action following public pressures and lobbying. Public support will push the Parliament Members to address these issues and enforce environmental regulations. We can be part of a large, global scale solution just by shutting off the lights when we don’t need them.