EARTH HOUR: Vote Earth (Your light switch is your vote)

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background had the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

Earth Hour 2009 has been the largest climate event in history. This year, the goals for Earth Hour are bigger because the stakes are higher. Already 250 cities in 74 countries have agreed to take part including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day. Around the world cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights in support.

In several cities in Spain, like Las Palmas G. C., the lights also went off like a rolling wave on landmarks structures and buildings around the world. More than eighty cities in Spain joined the blackout around the world promoted by the environmental organization WWF / Adena to raise awareness among citizens and governments on climate change.

In Madrid, the fountain of Cibeles, the Congress of Deputies, the Puerta de Alcalá, the Palace of Post and Telecommunications and the Royal Palace were in darkness. In the rest of Spain, Barcelona, Seville, Segovia, Granada, Zaragoza and Bilbao, turned off the lights on their major attractions.

Along with the cities, dozens of companies (Telefónica, Caixa Catalunya, Prisa, Orange or Unicaja, among many others), political parties (PP and PSOE), consumer organizations, social forums, and public figures such as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, or the Nobel Peace Prize Desmund Tutu, announced their endorsement of the initiative.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. This is a call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations. A global event created to symbolize that each one of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change. This is the perfect opportunity for individuals, governments, schools, businesses and communities around the world to unite for a common purpose, in response to a global issue that affects us all.

8:30 – 9,30 p.m. local time, wherever you live on planet earth.
Saturday 28 March 2009

Water is gold!!,...

As we become more and more aware that we may be using water at an unsustainable pace, the idea of water footprints—the amount of water an individual uses—is becoming more common. Water footprints can be hard to calculate, depending on how far up the chain of production you go, since everything you eat and buy used some water to produce (to feed cows for beef, for example, or to use in the factory that made your cell phone). With this transparency, we give you some examples of how much water is used in some of your daily activities, so that you can begin calculate your footprint and try to reduce your gallons.

To help put things in perspective, think about this: your standard trash barrel holds 32 gallons and a mid-sized passenger car—if pumped full of water—has room for a little more than 800 gallons. So, the difference in the amount of water it takes to produce a pound of chicken and a pound of beef is enough to fill almost two whole cars.

Solar energy has come to a halt in Gran Canaria

The first factory in Gran Canaria producing photovoltaic modules (TSKAN) was opened in Agüimes, last February. The factory has a production capacity of 25 megawatts per year in monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV modules. This leads to a reduction of 35,000 tons in the release of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which will benefit the environment and at the same time will generate new energy and bring wealth to the island.

TSKAN sells their products to Italy, Portugal and Africa and they hope to double its production as well as the number of workers in a year. The mayor of Agüimes pledges his firm commitment to renewable energies and is very pleased with the creation of this kind of industry in the south east of the island.

However, the new Decree of Renewable Energies (September, 2008) limits and hampers the setting up and use of this kind of energy on the island. In order to eliminate the negative repercussions of the Decree and promote solar energy among the investors, it would be necessary to get rid of the bureaucracy, build stations to transport the obtained energy and subsidise those who want to install a photovoltaic system.