Earth Hour takes steps to raise awareness at district level
BY AMIR NOOR
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - THE Sultanate's Earth Hour team has planned to set demonstrative models of sustainable living at district level and are looking for alternatives to get the public more environmentally aware.
With the assistance of government officials and various organisations this year, Earth Hour Brunei will be conducting proper awareness approaches compared to last year's campaign as part of their action plan.
Speaking on behalf of the team, representative Mohd Rimey Hj Osman, said one of the focuses will be on developing 'sustainable living' examples or models in Temburong and Tutong with the help of otherorganisations.
"We were thinking of Temburong but we need to conduct more studies first," he said and added that this was in line with their efforts for Earth Hour to go beyond its mandate.
Its targetted audience for the plan will also include the rural areas of the districts.
This plan was said to be conducted after the Earth Hour event in March but before December of this year with the aim of addressing Earth Hour's lack of presence in the Tutong and Temburong Districts. This was the Brunei team's solution to not have media accessibility to the two districts by instead initiating such a project for the respective districts.
Earth Hour 2012 will be celebrated with its slogan: 'I will if you will', which follows the theme 'Dare the world to save the planet'.
People can participate in challenging one another for environmental cause.
According to its press release, the theme will provide an incentive and mechanism for individuals, companies and organisations to go beyond the hour and more importantly, talk about it.
"I Will If You Will" capitalises on Earth Hour's strength of reach, credibility, digital footprint and ownership by the people. For example, a celebrity can challenge their fan base, a classroom can challenge another classroom, a city can challenge another city, or individuals can challenge their friends.This year's Earth Hour event will be held on March 31 at 8.30pm worldwide with Brunei's landmark to be announced at a later date.
Earth Hour, celebrated annually, is an energy-awareness initiative that began in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses in Sydney switched off lights simultaneously to highlight the cause of combating climate change.
-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
