Blackout? To Mark ‘Earth Hour 2019’ Hotel Taj Gateway Shuts Power for an Hour
Mangaluru: If you happened to pass by Hotel Taj Gateway on Old Port/Bunder Road, near State Bank on Saturday night and were wondering how come the Hotel was looking totally dark between the hours of 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm- the answer for that is very simple- the Hotel was just observing “Earth Hour 2019”- an initiative that started in Australia in 2007, and now its been carried forward in nearly 178 countries and more than 8000 cities and towns worldwide, thereby supporting the worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet/save energy, which is organized by World Wildlife Fund {WWF}. But for Mangaloreans, “Lights Off” is something not new, because in the past years we have experienced “Power Out” or “Lights Out”- a hide-n-seek game that used to be played by Mescom every now and then, for silly weather reasons etc- you never know when you’ll be in dark ?
But that’s a completely different story, but coming to the real awareness project called “Earth Hour”, that is commemorated all over the world, to save energy for an Hour, thereby engaging in a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour which was famously started as a “lights-off” ” event in Sydney, Australia, since then it has grown to engage a large number of cities and towns worldwide, and the one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement.
BEFORE EARTH HOUR…….
And as always, in Mangaluru, in keeping with their adherence towards preserving and promoting a healthy planet, Hotel Taj Gateway, Mangaluru reiterated its support to the worldwide movement – Earth Hour 2019, the global environmental awareness event created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as they switched off their lights on Saturday, 30 March 2019 between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm. Hotel Taj Gateway-Mangaluru is one among the nearly 130 plus Taj hotels in India across all its brands which include Luxury, Vivanta by Taj and The Gateway Hotels, which joined millions around the world to send a powerful message about a brighter future for the planet.
As soon as the electric lights were switched off at 8.30 pm, Peter Nirmal -General Manager of Taj Gateway-Mangaluru along with few other hotel staff lighted Diyas placed on the traditional Deepa and hotel surroundings. Few of the guests staying in the hotel also joined in the event. Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Peter Nirmal said “We have enthusiastically implemented sustainability initiatives, trying to optimally utilize the resources, mitigating impacts and creating positive footprints within the ecosystem. We have been celebrating Earth Hour throughout these years and have received great participation from our employees and guests. The theme of our global partner World Wildlife Federation (WWF) this year is ‘#BEE4THEPLANET, calling on the world’s biggest companies to promote personal sustainability i.e. contribute towards mother earth in their own capacities and spread the word. On this occasion, today, we organized a “ Dine in the Dark” dinner Buffet at our Coffee Shop, Port Café .”
“In the ever-changing environmental conditions, we believe it’s imperative for every business to contribute towards the betterment of our planet. Taj Hotels always believes in encouraging awareness on the environment; We thank World Wildlife Fund-India (WWF) for introducing this noble cause and bringing together people worldwide to participate in Earth Hour 2019. We do this [turn out the lights] each year to call attention to the need for climate action now and the brighter future that lies ahead if we act together. It’s nice to note that WWF has taken the initiative at the global level that touches the lives of innumerable individuals and helps them understand the severe effects of climate change. Myself along with the staff at Taj Gateway are honored to be part of this great event-Earth Hour 2019″, added Peter Nirmal..
AFTER EARTH HOUR…..
Earth Hour was aimed to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world. On Saturday, many organizations and people across India and the world turned off their lights for an hour. But there is much, much more. The full ambition of the organizers of this campaign is to make people take action beyond the hour. Whether it’s supporting a crowdfunding or crowdsourcing campaign on www.earthhour.org or getting involved in Earth Hour campaigns in their own country, or starting the movement in their own community. The vision is always to do more, so make the light switch the beginning of your journey.
In conclusion, we should also know that participating in Earth Hour symbolizes a commitment to change beyond the hour. Earth Hour takes every effort to minimize our footprint, not just for the hour but also all year round. We have to take steps to save our nature, biodiversity and the earth. We must judiciously use the resources. This campaign is seen as an opportunity to adopt a shifting of the consumer culture and behaviour change towards sustainability, helping economize operations and reduce the costs. Therefore, Earth Hour is the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment where citizens around the world unite to take a stand against climate change by turning off non-essential lights for one hour. It was time for the Earth Hour challenge!
