What started as a symbolic statement about climate change in Australia, has since turned into a global lights-off movement. But already in its fifth year, Earth Hour organisers, WWW Australia, want us to do more than just flick the switch. The agenda for 2011 is to initiate the next phase, ‘Beyond the Hour,’ and to help spread the word is our very own Aussie model, Miranda Kerr.
Harnessing the influence of celebrity and social media, Kerr has hijacked Myspace to encourage people to commit to an action, big or small that will sustain the future of our planet. The idea is to keep people up to date on the latest news in the lead up to Earth Hour, as well as offer exclusive content curated by Kerr detailing her inner workings and inspirations. Some might even surprise you (hint: Wu Tang’s “Gravel Pit” is among her favourite songs of all time).
“Myspace was the very first social network to come on board for Earth Hour back in 2007. Fast forward to 2011 and social media has become critical to the success of our global event, so much so that the very crux of our Beyond the Hour platform has social media at its very core. I know that Miranda will be encouraging people around the world to go beyond the hour – and I’ve no doubt that we’ll see that challenge met by the passionate Myspace community,” says Co-Founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour, Andy Ridley.
Kerr joins past and present ambassadors for Earth Hour including Cate Blanchett, Giselle Bundchen, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Edward Norton, singer Tom Jones and Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“As the global ambassador for Earth Hour this year I’m excited to be in a position to reach out to the Myspace audience for such an important cause. It will be fun to share the things I love with such a huge global community as well as this year encouraging as many people as possible to go ‘beyond the hour’ and adopt even more sustainability practices in their everyday lives,” says Kerr.
4616 cities, towns and municipalities across 128 countries (including 9 of the world’s 10 most populated cities) took part in Earth Hour last year. Over 1500 landmarks turned off their lights, including the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza, Empire State Building, The Acropolis and the Las Vegas Strip.
So in the spirit of supporting a sustainable future, and as a symbol of our thoughts and prayers for the people of Japan – turn off your lights, light a candle and do something worthwhile.
Earth Hour: Saturday 26th March 2011 at 8.30 pm.
Words By Kellie Hill
Image by: Mark Metcalfe via Getty
