San Mateo Turning Out the Lights for 'Earth Hour'

The following was submitted to San Mateo Patch by the city of San Mateo. To submit an article for publication, please e-mail laura.dudnick@patch.com.

Creating a sustainable community is a top priority for the City of San Mateo. To recognize our commitment to creating a healthier environment and planet, the City invites San Mateo residents and businesses to participate in the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour celebration on Saturday, March 23.

At 8:30 PM PST, the City will turn off all non-essential lighting to recognize the importance of protecting our planet and creating a more sustainable community.  

Imagine coming together to symbolically acknowledge the many gifts the earth provides and how our actions have a direct impact on our community as well as the planet.

Earth Hour provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the environmental challenges we face by simply turning off the lights for one-hour on the same night.

Hundreds of millions of people will participate and collectively make a tremendous statement about creating a more sustainable world.    

In 2008 the City of San Mateo adopted the Sustainable Initiatives Plan (SIP) to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions while building awareness and increasing sustainable activities throughout the community.

Recent accomplishments of the SIP include the adoption of the Bicycle Master Plan in 2011 and the Pedestrian Master Plan in 2012.

Additionally, staff will introduce ordinances to ban single use bags and polystyrene containers in April. Staff provided an updated on the SIP at a Council Study Session on March 4.

Council is considering steps to help maintain momentum of implementing the plan and heard comments pertaining to the pending leaf blower ordinance.   

The City’s sustainability goals resonate with the San Mateo community and a great deal of progress has been made since adopting the SIP in 2008. Taking one-hour to celebrate Earth-Hour is a simple way to acknowledge the individual and collective actions we can take to improve our environment for future generations.   

Visit Earth Hour for more information and to discover what else community members can do to celebrate this event.

For an update on San Mateo’s sustainability initiatives, see the City’s Annual Update of the Sustainable Initiatives Plan.  

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