Iqbal Mario Putranto is likely to celebrate his 30th birthday in the dark.

Not because of a failure on the part of electricity company but because he will switch off the lights to show his support for Jakarta’s participation in the Earth Hour campaign.

To raise awareness about global warming, Earth Hour asks residents like Iqbal to turn off their lights for just one hour on March 28 – as simple as the flick of a switch.

“I’ll be celebrating my birthday at that time. Before the campaign starts at 8:30 p.m., I’ll spend my time with some friends and ask them to do the same,” Iqbal, an employee of a retail company in Jakarta, said.

Iqbal signed up for Earth Hour 2009 a week ago; joining what organizers hope will be more than one billion other people across the globe wanting to send a message that individuals really can do something to help prevent climate change.

“People have been skeptical about the ability of individual action to combat climate change,” Verena Puspawardani, campaign coordinator for the WWF-Indonesia, who are coordinating the event locally, said.

“But this campaign is about to change such a perception. One person, living in one house, can really make significant contribution to the earth, even if only by switching off the lights for one hour.”

However, Verena underlined that Earth Hour’s ultimate aim is to get people to participate in a not one-day-event, but to spark a world-wide energy conservation movement.

“Switching off the lights during Earth Hour is only the first part. Our final goal is to encourage people to turn off unused lights and appliances every day of the year,” she said.

The idea of switching off the lights for one hour may sound simple, but Verena said such a small action could cut off some 300 megawatts of electricity in Jakarta alone and reduce carbon emission by some 263 tons.

Jakarta will be the first city in the country to embrace Earth Hour; it joins 375 other cities and towns in 74 countries.  

Verena said the campaign would kick off in Jakarta because the city has the highest electricity consumption in Indonesia.

“In Jakarta, households have recorded the highest power consumption, at 33 percent, while businesses are at 29 percent. That’s why this campaign will focus on these two groups,” Verena said.   

Efforts have been made by WWF Indonesia to get support for Earth Hour, including from the government and businesspeople.

“So far, we’ve received the green light from the Jakarta governor, the Central Jakarta mayor and the director general for electricity and energy use at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry,” Verena said.

“We’re currently approaching the hotel and commercial buildings associations to join in the campaign.”

According to Verena, WWF Indonesia has proposed the Jakarta government do its part during Earth Hour. “We proposed that the lights at some iconic buildings and places like the National Monument, the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the City Hall or even the Presidential Palace to be turned off to mark this campaign,” Verena said.

In the previous years, global landmarks like Sydney’s Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and Prince Charles’ private residence, Highgrove House in Doughton, all stood in the dark to show supports for Earth Hour.  

In the case of Indonesia, “because the National Monument is a symbol of Jakarta, we expect it to attract people’s attention on the campaign, while at the same time send a message that Jakarta needs to save energy,” Verena said.  

However, she said that because Earth Hour highlights how people’s lifestyles are contributing to global warming, it is targeted more at individuals.

“We’re maximizing support from households through community approaches,” Verena said.

“We believe one person can spread the word on Earth Hour to many others. This is how the campaign will work.”

Benefiting from the popularity of social networking site Facebook, Earth Hour Indonesia has secured support from nearly 3,000 people who joined its “cause page”.

Iqbal is one of the campaign’s supporters on Facebook and succeeded in recruiting his friends to join the cause.

“I’ve recruited 10 of my friends through Facebook so far,” Iqbal said. “My position as a salesman has also allowed me to promote Earth Hour whenever I meet and talk to my customers,” he happily added.

Another Facebook member, Anggariti Tirtosudarmo is supporting Earth Hour. “I believe that it’s everyone responsibility to stand up against climate change, and reducing electricity use is just one way to make it happen,” Anggariti, an employee at a private company, said.

She said she might spend the one-hour of darkness talking with her family.

“It could be a good time to sleep, too,” she said, jokingly, adding that she would promote Earth Hour to her friends through email.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when some 2.2 million homes and businesses turned off their lights. On the night, people held candle-lit beach parties and floated candles down the local Parramatta River.

A year later, this event became a global sustainability movement and saw the participation of up to 50 million people across 35 countries.

In Bangkok’s business district, shopping malls and billboards stood in the dark, although street lights stayed on. The British arm of Internet search engine Google turned its home page black and added the message: “We’ve turned the lights out. Now it’s your turn.”

In 2009, at 8.30 p.m. on March 28, people around the world will again turn their lights off for one hour. This time, Earth Hour’s people in more than 1000 cities – will you joint he cause?

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