Town getting ready to take part in Earth Hour 2015

March 27, 2015 · 0 Comments

The Town of Caledon has actively participated in Earth Hour since 2008.
For this year’s campaign, March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the Town is ramping up preparations to turn off unnecessary lighting in an effort to raise climate change awareness.
Last year was the most successful Earth Hour campaign both globally and locally. Globally, the 2014 campaign broke all records with hundreds of millions of participants across 162 countries and 7,000 cities. Locally, Hydro One reported an estimated 7.5 per cent decrease in electric demand resulting from local resident and business participation (0.5 per cent above the 2013 results).
“The Town of Caledon is pleased to be participating in Earth Hour for the seventh consecutive year, displaying our dedication to the environment,” remarked Mayor Allan Thompson. “This event shows that the simple activities we can do each day to reduce our energy use have a major impact.”
Many Town facilities will be shutting off the lights in support of the hour. Lights will be going out at Caledon Village Place, Alton Library and Community Room, Mayfield Recreation Centre, Lloyd Wilson Arena, Caledon Centre for Recreation and Wellness, Rotary Place, Town Hall, Fire Administration Building and the Pan Am Equestrian Park.
There will also be reduced energy use at Caledon Community Complex and Albion-Bolton Community Centre.
Within Caledon, the Town has initiated numerous measures to go beyond the hour. Last year, the Town passed an idling bylaw to help limit the amount of unnecessary emissions from vehicles. Staff also completed a significant update to the Town’s Corporate Energy and Environmental Plans. Lastly, the Town won two awards (Building Performance-Biggest Energy Reduction and Team Excellence-Capital/Operating Project) through “Race to Reduce” an initiative led by Civic Action, recognizing Town Hall’s significant reduction in energy use, resulting from a re-commissioning and engagement and awareness exercises.
Earth Hour originated in Sydney, Australia, in an effort to take action on global climate change and quickly grew to become one of the largest climate change movements globally. Last year, the movement inspired more than 18 crowd funding projects supporting initiatives such as projects to help save the Great Barrier Reef to a “Blue Sky” campaign in China focused on crowd-sourcing solutions to air pollution.
For more information about the Town’s environment and climate change strategies, visit www.caledon.ca/environmet
To learn more about Earth Hour, and how to participate, visit www.earthhour.org

Celebrate Earth Hour at Palgrave United

Palgrave United Church will be the location of a family celebration of Earth Hour this Saturday (March 28).
It will run from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the church at 34 Pine Ave.
There will be three varieties of fondu available (bring your own fruit). There will also be entertainment provided by local musicians.
Donations will be accepted to help cover the costs.