Saudi Wildlife Portal, which aims to raise awareness about the environment and climate change, sponsors Earth Hour in the Kingdom.
“Earth Hour has done a lot to raise awareness of sustainability issues,” said a statement on the website. “But there is more to it than switching off the lights for an hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future for the planet,” the statement said.
The event began in Sydney in 2007, when two million people in one city switched off their lights. By 2010 Earth Hour had expanded to 128 countries and territories.
The initiative was taken by a number of private companies, banks and educational institutes. Tetra Pak, a food processing and packaging solutions company, supported the event by distributing candles among employees and entered into a partnership with Teayana Café in Jeddah where they turned off the lights and used candles during the Earth Hour.
Several Saudi families switch off their lights for an hour in a unified show of support for action toward a sustainable future for the planet. “You can say that I’m very much eco friendly I try as much as I can to implement the Three Rs in my life, that is Recycle, Reduce and Reuse,” said Hala Shahine, 39-year-old mother.
“It makes sense to participate in such an event even if I just did it in my own home with my children. This way I would teach them how to be eco friendly and make them talk about it the next day to their friends at school who would want to do the same next year,” she added.
Meanwhile, Rezidor hotels in Saudi Arabia
and around the world plunged into darkness on Saturday. The hour’s darkness,
between 8.20 and 9.30 p.m., was to celebrate Earth Hour. Guests staying at the
Radisson Blu hotels in Riyadh, Jeddah Madinah and Yanbu were invited to a reception
for the hour.
Employees of the hotel group were encouraged
to participate at home and said the company “make this change a part of their
everyday life through activities like using energy-saving life bulbs, turning
appliances off, unplugging charges when not in use, among others.”
Mohamed Banamar, district director for
Saudi Arabia and general manager for the Radisson Blu in Riyadh, said that
Earth Hour was an excellent opportunity to highlight and support the
company-wide responsible business program.
"Our company is committed to
responsible business having a long history of innovative hospitality with 'Yes
I Can!' service philosophy," he said. "Our main areas of focus on
responsible business are health safety and well-being of our employees and
guests, respecting and promoting social and ethical issues in the company, as
well as in the community and reducing negative impact on the environment."
The hotel group has been recognized as one
of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the second year in a row. Following a
first award in 2010, the Ethisphere Institute (USA) has again highlighted
Rezidor’s “real and sustained” ethical leadership and has named the group as
one of the 2011 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
This year, a swell of support in Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and the Americas has seen a number of countries taking part officially in Earth Hour for the first time.
