A big ole Earth Hour Thank you!!

My family had some good friends over for dinner on the Friday before Earth Hour, and we spent much of the evening talking about all the great activites planned for Earth Hour.  One of our friends works at FCB, an advertising agency that is part of WWF’s Living Planet @ Work Program.  He told us all about their Earth Hour Week of activities, which they organized to rally employees and the Toronto Liberty Village business community around climate change action.
As an ad agency, they naturally came up with some pretty creative employee and community engagement activities that played on this year’s Earth Hour Canada theme – “a moment of darkness” – including a cheeky Earth Hour survival kit, glow-in-the dark t-shirts, and a social with a local band, as well as a “Live Jukebox” set up to collect $5.00 for each song requested.

FCB Canada employee makes a donation to WWF during their company Earth Hour fundraiser event ©FCB Canada
FCB Canada employee makes a donation to WWF during their company Earth Hour fundraiser event
©FCB Canada

Draft FCB designs creative posters and a fun survival kit to engage employees in Earth Hour ©FCB Canada
Draft FCB designs creative posters and a fun survival kit to engage employees in Earth Hour
©FCB Canada

© FCB Canada
© FCB Canada

Sometimes thinking about climate change can be a bit overwhelming, so I was impressed with FCB’s ability to make it fun and social!  In total they raised $1300 during Earth Hour for WWF’s Renewable Energy Mapping Project.
Later, I was thinking about our evening together, and how we need to do this far more often.  And then there was the realization that it’s so difficult because there is too much going on – everyone’s life is so full!   That’s what makes Earth Hour so important – it’s a chance to take a step back from the everyday clutter and think about our planet and the future we want for it.
It’s also what makes the support for WWF, and campaigns like Spring Things and Earth Hour so generous – it’s not just the dollars raised for our critical conservation projects, but also the countless hours spent organizing these amazing initiatives. We recognize that when CEOs and their workplace champions are working to get t-shirts made, promote their events and get their teams excited, they are not doing other things. They are choosing to invest precious time and resources to find ways to bring WWF and the environment into their already full lives.
So, on behalf of WWF, I want to give a big thank you to the all the companies, teams, champions and individuals who are supporting WWF at work and in your communities.  You are all pandas at heart and together, we are choosing a better future!
FCB Canada is participating in Living Planet @ Work’s Spring Things – a workplace campaign that aims to engage employees in fundraising for environmental conservation.  Join WWF and FCB and get your company involved by visiting wwf.ca/springthings.