Earth Hour as it happens: Canada
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Still looking for that perfect way to celebrate tonight? View WWF’s Earth Hour events calendar and find out what’s happening in your neighbourhood.
Some reports from across the country, as they happen…
Earth Hour has begun on Canada’s east coast! Here’s our favourite panda at the party in Halifax.
(c) Efficiency Nova Scotia
Our Stacey McCarthy says: “In Halifax we are celebrating Earth Hour at the Discovery Centre with about 65 people enjoying an acoustic, LED candlelit concert by ECMA award winning singer/songwriter Dave Gunning. It’s an amazing atmosphere to think about what Earth Hour means.”
Meanwhile, these kids are getting ready for a walk in High Park by making lanterns at Annette Public Library in Toronto.
Our Stephanie Nicholl in St. Johns says, “I’m here in having a great time during Earth Hour with five of my oldest friends, having a potluck dinner, enjoying some Planet-ini’s and telling stories of days gone by.” That Planet-ini sure looks tasty!
Now, Earth Hour is underway for those of us on EST. In the Toronto office, the web team (myself, Danielle Leblanc and Ken Mak) are working in the dark to bring you these stories from across the country.
The rest of the local Earth Hour team is enjoying a well-deserved dinner at Cowbell restaurant, which has dimmed the lights for the hour. Here’s our Kate Conrad with a big smile on her face, as usual.
Our president Gerald Butts took his family to High Park for Earth Hour. His daughter Ava is looking sweet with her lantern.
In Ottawa, our team spent the night with at the Science and Technology Museum of Canada, stargazing with hundreds of friends. The Hydro Ottawa owl and our very own Panda spent time cavorting together, as usual.
Paulette Roberge, Andrew Dumbrille and Martin von Mirbach kept us posted via lively tweets, and snapped photos of the budding astronomers in the dark.
In Montreal, our Marie-Claude Lemieux and the panda celebrated with the Minister of the Environment. Many iconic landmarks turned out the lights, including City Hall.
It was a thrill to watch Earth Hour make its way across the country, and hundreds of people shared stories with us on Facebook and Twitter. In Vancouver, the panda team enjoyed Ecotinis at the Fairmont (green drinks were definitely a theme!).
Families from every province told us how they made Earth Hour fun for their kids, and got them thinking about solutions to climate change. In St. Albert, our Annette Cake invited her neighbours to spend the night with her family. She says, “We started the night by making our own 100 percent beeswax candles in Earth Hour colours (of course!). They even smelled like honey… and burned so nicely! When it was time to turn off the lights, it was amazing how quiet things got. Everyone just came together and enjoyed the quiet, stillness around the table of candles. Then we brought out charades to really liven things up. It was hilarious! The hour went by so quickly…and when it was over, most of our lights stayed off.”
