DST beats Earth Hour

ENTHUSIASTIC border-dwellers can take part in Earth Hour twice this Saturday.

Tweed residents can flick their switches with the rest of the state at 8.30pm and leave them off when Queenslanders black out an hour later.

Earth Hour, which started in Sydney in 2007, last year saw nearly one billion people in 87 countries turn their lights off.

The notion behind the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour is: “The simple act of turning lights off sends a powerful message that if individuals take small steps, collectively we can make a huge difference in reducing our carbon footprint”.

Daylight Saving for South East Queensland party leader Jason Furze said that households could enjoy an additional 182 ‘Earth Hour’ days if the region adopted daylight saving.

“With the sun setting an hour later, households would switch their lights on an hour later,” he said.

“Given that there would still be adequate natural light in the morning to perform general household activities, there is no real downside to daylight saving. While Earth Hour is symbolic, daylight saving would provide ongoing tangible benefits.”

Businesses and households are encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm local time. Officially register your actions at www.earthhour.org.au.