On the 30^th March 2019, an Earth Hour event was held successfully at Le Café Rouge in Kuching to inspire environmental awareness and action among Kuchingites. It was held to commemorate Earth Hour, a worldwide movement initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event encourages individuals and the community to switch off non-essential lights for an hour, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, on a specific day at the end of the March as a symbolism for climate change mitigation and a celebration of sustainability of natural resources.

In Kuching, the event was a collaboration between Sarawak Eco-Warriors (SEW), Kuching Beach Cleaners, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Kamek Kitak Stories, Heart Treasures, Honey Bee Management Enterprise, The Moff and Wordsmiths of Kuching. As the secretary of SEW, I was involved with some pre-event planning and helped on the event day. More than a hundred people turned up to support the event and take part in environmental-related activities.

The event began at 4 p.m with an arts and crafts workshop conducted by Heart Treasures to raise awareness on the depletion of our natural resources. Children and adults joined in the fun by making origami of animals and transportation. Among the messages that were communicated were to treasure our environment and to use wisely our natural resources because as they are non-renewable.

Next was an introduction to Earth Hour; ‘What It Is and Why We Do It’. A select line of individuals from the conservation scene shared true stories and experiences related to conservation and nature. Among the topics included freshwater conservation, river conservation, dolphins and fish bombing in the Sulu Sea. This was then followed by a screening of documentary videos related to the environment to further encourage people to start making a change and switch to a lifestyle that does not hurt the environment. The highlight of the night was the unveiling of our dynamo-powered ‘60+’ Earth Hour sign. It was also the centrepiece of the event as it served in reminding us to switch off non-essential lights when possible.

After the event, we interviewed several people and they found the event to be a great eye-opener and a good start to building a community that loves the environment.

“I feel very proud and hopeful for the community knowing that the number of people who care for conservation is growing,” remarked volunteer, Celine Tiang from Kamek Kitak Stories. “I have definitely learned that conservation work is more than just research and campaigns, it extends into our daily lives as well. I hope more people will start making changes to their routines and advocate for better environmental policies as we are really running out of time to save the Earth.”

Reef Guardians lead marine biologist Dr. Achier Chung, meanwhile hoped that more Sarawakians are able to voice their concerns on the loss of biodiversity and resources in Sarawak. “I think the event is good as people are made aware of what is going on around them in the environment. We are being robbed daily of our natural resources and many are unaware of this fact.”

Indeed, Earth Hour is a great start to inculcating a love in the environment in the community but our efforts should go beyond the 60 minutes in Earth Hour. We should strive to change our lifestyle every day. 

Picture Credits: Official photographers