Nutley to Recognize Earth Hour on Saturday

On March 23 at 8 p.m., 7,000 cities in 152 countries are expected go dark. Nutley will be one of them.

Per an announcement by Township Commissioner Joseph Scarpelli, Nutley is asking township residents to join the township in turning off their home’s lights for an hour.  Nutley is again supporting Earth Hour, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund.

For the seventh year, locations participating in Earth Hour will turn off their lights from 8:30 p.m. EST until 9:30 p.m. Over 400 cities participated in the United States alone last year, with landmarks including the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, Seattle’s Space Needle and the Las Vegas Strip going dark. Internationally, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Great Wall of China and Big Ben also flicked the power switch to the off position, creating a “power outage” that was reportedly visible to astronauts at the International Space Station

“This is a visually impactful way to call attention to environmental issues,” Commissioner Scarpelli said in the announcement. “Turning your lights off for one hour is such a small sacrifice that can really make a big difference. It’s also a great catalyst for talking to our children about other ways we can help the environment and make our world a better place for future generations.”

World Wildlife Fund President and CEO Carter Roberts said the WWF was happy Nutley plans to again take part in the Earth Hour event.

“As lights go out in cities around the U.S. and the world on March 23rd, Earth Hour will provide world leaders with an unmistakable mandate to take action,” Roberts said. 

Commissioner Scarpelli and the Greenutley Committee strongly encourage everyone in the community to participate. All residents, business owners, and schools can to pledge their participation in Earth Hour 2013 though this link. . For more information about this event, visit the official World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2013 website.