On Saturday, March 19 from 8:30 to 9:30 PM, Notre Dame will participate in Earth Hour by turning off the lights on the Golden Dome and the Word of Life Mural on Hesburgh Library for one hour. An international symbol of support for climate change action, this year marks the tenth anniversary of Earth Hour, and the ninth year Notre Dame has participated.
The single largest symbolic mass participation event in the world, Earth Hour participants include the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon, and St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. 2015’s Earth Hour broke records by inspiring a global community of over 7,000 cities in 172 countries to take over 620,000 actions to change climate change, including signing climate petitions, planting trees, and distributing LED and solar lamps.
To celebrate this year’s Earth Hour, the Office of Sustainability will be hosting a lights-out event with students as a part of the annual Megawatt Madness energy reduction competition. Faculty and staff are encouraged to participate by turning off the lights in their homes and using that time to engage in off-the-grid activities like having a candle-lit dinner, star-gazing, or going for a nighttime bike ride along the St. Joseph River.
“Notre Dame’s participation in this global event for the past nine years exemplifies our strong commitment to sustainability,” said Linda Kurtos, Director of Sustainability. “We encourage all community members to join in by turning off their lights and unplugging for an hour. Strong community involvement is vital to achieving the University’s sustainability goals.”