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Jakarta Gears Up For Earth Hour 2017
JP/Jerry AdigunaJakartans are gearing up for the annual international Earth Hour event, aiming to bring attention to the importance of environmental preservation and climate change mitigation
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JP/Jerry Adiguna
Jakartans are gearing up for the annual international Earth Hour event, aiming to bring attention to the importance of environmental preservation and climate change mitigation.
Scheduled to be held on Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., the capital’s participation in this event will include citizens, community groups and businesses. This effort is shared by millions of others in 60 cities across the country and in thousands of cities around the world in turning off all non-essential lights to symbolize their commitment to saving the planet.
As is usually the case with Earth Hour, people are not just using this special time of year to turn off their electricity. Some are going the extra mile by hosting Earth Hour-related social events.
The local organizers of Earth Hour, WWF Indonesia, are working in 30 cities throughout the archipelago to call on individuals and groups to donate used shirts that can be turned into reusable shopping bags that will be distributed to supermarkets and traditional markets. This will in turn reduce the usage of plastic bags.
The Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta is working together with Suka Outdoors to host a running event called “Lari Untuk Bumi” (Running for Earth) during Earth Hour to support the cause.
Guests at the Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta are set to participate in the Earth Hour event with a unique coconut candle-lighting process in the hotel’s garden. This process is designed to serve as an alternative, natural form of light during the hour. One-hundred unlit coconut shells have been collected and arranged to form the “60+” Earth Hour symbol.
The Artotel Thamrin Jakarta is joining its Artotel counterparts in Surabaya and Bali with the “60 + 60” theme, extending the Earth Hour festivities to two hours instead.
From 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on March 25, the Artotels will have a special “60K” promo for food and beverages, meaning that all food above Rp 60,000 will be priced at just Rp 60,000. The same applies to two bottles of beer, as well as cocktails and shooters.
In addition to these food and beverage deals, the Artotels will also have glow-in-the-dark paintings in the lobby and acoustic music sessions all throughout Earth Hour.
The Karumba rooftop bar at the Hotel Mercure Jakarta Simatupang is supporting Earth Hour by dimming its lights and entertaining guests with acoustic music from its resident band.
The Grove Suites by Grand Aston’s Verandah Restaurant is also having its own list of special offers for Earth Hour. There will be 60 percent discounts for food and beverages (excluding alcohol) during the hour.
Other business establishments, despite not having these unique social events to commemorate Earth Hour 2017, are doing their part to contribute to raising social awareness for the environment.
The Hotel Aston Marina, for instance, will turn off its lights for the entirety of Earth Hour to respect the global effort.
A brief history of Earth Hour
Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia, back in 2007. It was then that 2.2 million homes and businesses turned off their lights for an hour to combat global warming. Since then, the event has turned into a global phenomenon with more than 100 countries participating to prevent the spread of global warming and climate change.
By 2008, it had expanded to 400 cities in 35 countries around the globe all taking part in turning off non-essential lighting. Through the years, the numbers have kept growing, with 4,000 cities in 88 countries participating in 2009.
With its “Beyond the Hour” tagline in 2011, Earth Hour organizers began asking participants to spend more than just an hour turning off non-essential lights, as part of their desire to get people to think about the different ways they can reduce electricity usage.
While Earth Hour has used a logo with the number “60” in the past, the year 2011 saw Earth Hour unveil an updated logo that included a small plus symbol to the right of the number to symbolize a commitment to go beyond Earth Hour’s annual 60-minute event.
By 2015, over 170 countries and territories participated in Earth Hour, with a total of over 1.8 billion people taking part. By 2016, nearly every country in the world was observing Earth Hour.
Key landmarks that have turned off their lights for Earth Hour include the National Monument in Jakarta, the Empire State Building in New York, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and even the Colosseum of Rome.
In Indonesia, the focus of Earth Hour occurs on Java and Bali, as 78 percent of electricity consumed in the country comes from these two islands, with Jakarta and Tangerang making up 23 percent of the nation’s electricity consumption.
