The world observes Earth Hour today at 8.30pm. The celebratory activities, however, begin from 5pm onwards at The Float @ Marina Bay in Singapore.
Spider-Man will be at the Official Lights Off Ceremony at The Float @ Marina Bay, putting Singapore at the heart of Earth Hour celebrations around the world. Photo credit: WWF Singapore.
Admission to The Float @ Marina Bay is free for the event which happens from 5-10pm today.
How to get there:
- Nearest Bus Stop (B02051) is 2 mins walk away: Bus 36, 56, 70M, 75, 77, 97, 97E, 106, 111 and 1
- Nearest MRT Station is 6 mins walk away: Promenade MRT (CC4), Exit A
This year, Spider-Man has been appointed as the first superhero ambassador for Earth Hour.
This is to encourage everybody – that’s you and me – to be superheroes in our own way to use our power to drive positive change for the environment.
How do you “Use Your Power” to drive positive change for the environment?
Here are four simple acts you can do on a daily basis:
- Turn air-conditioning up by one degree
- Switch to LED lighting
- Use fewer plastic bags
- Take shorter showers
Millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year to support Earth Hour, the largest environmental event in history spearheaded by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).
The director, producers and cast of the motion picture “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is in Singapore to celebrate Earth Hour and help switch off the lights across Singapore’s signature Marina Bay skyline. Here’s Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx. Photo credit: Sony Pictures.
First started as a lights out event in Sydney in 2006, Earth Hour is now in 154 countries and 7,000 cities and towns.
As the home of Earth Hour, Singapore first commemorated it here in 2009.
Since then, participation in the event and the support for it has grown, year on year.
In 2013 last year, Earth Hour Singapore saw more than 5,000 participants gathered at The Float @ Marina Bay for the official Lights Out ceremony.
A record 183 organisations pledged their support, from switching off their lights to proactively engaging staff, customers and other stakeholders in various initiatives to protect the environment.
The best part, admission is FREE! This means everyone is welcome to spend time with Spider-Man at Earth Hour! Photo credit: WWF Singapore.
More and more organisations and groups have started to organise their own ‘lights out’ events and parties, as well as to use Earth Hour as a starting point to kick off more sustainable actions to protect the environment.
This year, more than 350 organisations are planning to switch off their lights to mark their commitment to save the planet.
For 2014, Singapore will be the global flagship event for Earth Hour celebrations around the world.
Over 60 iconic structures dotting the Marina Bay skyline will join a global community of national monuments around the world in switching off their lights in support of this year’s campaign to save the planet.
There will be fun things to do, like watching live performances by the LuMen Dancers, Samba Masala and the Invincible Diamonds Cheerleaders. You can even show off your dance moves on Energy Floors to generate electricity! Photo credit: Energy Floors.
These structures include the Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum, Merlion Park, Marina Bay Financial Centre, Marina Barrage, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, and the three tallest buildings in Singapore – One Raffles Place, Republic Plaza and United Overseas Bank Plaza.
A few tips:
- Get Comfy: The event is outdoors so dress comfortably.
- BYOW (Bring Your Own Water): There are drinks at the event, but we can minimize packaging used for drinks and do good for the environment.
- Be Ready, Rain or Shine: This is a rain or shine event so be prepared for both.
Other global icons taking part in the symbolic switch-off this year include the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Burj Khalifa in the UAE, La Cupola di San Pietro at the Vatican, and the Kremlin and Red Square in Russia.
In 2014, Earth Hour is also launching Earth Hour Blue, the first crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform for the planet, an offshoot of the world’s largest grassroots environmental event in history.
Credits:
Earth Hour 2014 in Singapore has been made possible with the support of URA – the Official Venue Partner for The Float@Marina Bay, National Environment Agency (NEA), National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and Marina Bay Sands, the Associate Partner for Earth Hour 2014.
The Major Sponsor for this year’s Earth Hour campaign in Singapore is Singapore Post, while IKEA and NTUC FairPrice are the Sponsors.
Earth Hour Blue aspires to shift the paradigm of how people raise funds, get support, and mobilise others to change the world through crowdfunding and crowdsourcing for environmental and social projects.
Singapore’s very own crowdfunding project Stop the Killing! aims to stop animal trafficking in Southeast Asia.
It is targeting to raise US$20,000 which will go towards strengthening wildlife patrols, exposing and suppressing the trade, and reducing consumer demand.
Tags: Earth Hour, Marina Bay, Singapore, The Float, WWF
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