PH seeks ‘5-peat’ as top Earth Hour participant

SWITCH OFF Celebrity advocates (from left) Rovilson Fernandez, Marc Nelson and Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski grace the launch of the Earth Hour 2013 campaign with World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines chair Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan and the WWF mascot. PHER MENDOZA/CONTRIBUTO

LBC Foundation will donate 500 trash cans for public use if 500 people will return used pouches to LBC branches. Big Chill said it will upsize your drink for free if you bring your own reusable tumbler. Starbucks, meanwhile, will give a P20 discount if a customer will bring his or her own tumbler during Earth Hour.

Model, TV host and magazine editor Rovilson Fernandez said he will conduct a cross-fit class for free if 1,000 people promise to use reusable shopping bags instead of plastics.

These are just some of the pledges made by various companies and individuals joining this year’s Earth Hour, which will be on March 23 starting at 8:30 p.m.

The Philippines could again emerge as the top participant for the fifth straight year by having the highest number of households, organizations, government offices or businesses switching off their lights for an hour, according to the local chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The country has been participating in the international drive for energy conservation to stem global warming since 2008, a year after the first Earth Hour was observed in Sydney.

Today, the campaign is considered the largest, recurring environmental mass action involving 152 out of the 196 countries on the planet.

In 2012, 1,761 towns and cities across the country took part in Earth Hour, making the Philippines the No. 1 participant worldwide, according to the WWF.

At the local launch of Earth Hour 2013 on Wednesday in Makati City, WWF Philippines chair Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan said Filipinos can again send “a clear message” for Mother Earth as they did for democracy during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, whose 27th anniversary was marked also that week.

“The Edsa Revolution has shown how the unity of Filipinos can change the course of history,” he said. “Because we stood firm, we were able to set an example and be of positive influence to others.”

“We should do all that we can to ensure that the country sends a clear message to the world: That individuals, when working as one, can rise to the challenge of climate change.”

WWF Philippines communications manager Gregg Yan said the Yuchengco Group of Companies, for example, pledged to minimize energy consumption by 10 percent last year, resulting in almost P50 million in savings.

In a statement, WWF Philippines said the campaign is enhancing its online presence using Facebook and YouTube, by asking netizens to post photos or videos of environment-friendly initiatives in their own homes or businesses, from children playing outdoors instead of spending hours on computer games to the use of recycled paper in the office. Jodee A. Agoncillo