‘...We all need the darkness to see the light.’

This sounds like the voice of a person crossing a tunnel, his gaze immovable from the ray of light outside.

Have you ever deliberately switched off all the lights of your home, stood under the night sky and stargazed? If you haven’t, then do it for an hour someday. The energy you’ll conserve will add up to a brighter future of not only your home, but the world at large.

The brilliant concept of Earth Hour was initiated by WWF in 2007 in Sydney, Australia. This initiative ended up having 2.2 million homes and offices turn their lights off for an hour to make their stand against climate change. Thence, it has become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating the next year.

In the last nine years, it has substantially grown to engage more than 172 countries and territories worldwide to contribute to energy consumption and reduce the adverse effects of global warming on this planet.

Maybe an hour of your chosen darkness can light up remote villages where light hasn’t travelled yet. It gives me immense pleasure to be a part of a global phenomenon that enables me to take a simple step to make a great change.

This happens every year on the last Saturday of March. But we can switch off non-essential lights in our homes and offices even if it isn’t the last Saturday of March, for, good deeds are to be done any time.

The next Earth Hour is on 25^th March 2017 at 8:30 PM.

So are you turning your lights off for a brighter future of the world?