Concordia Journal Home > Archives > April 1, 2010 issue >

Dark was the night: Earth Hour at Concordia 

Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Coliseum in Rome, the GM Building fell dark during Earth Hour on Saturday, March 27.

From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the lights in the offices of the MB, CJ, and FB were also extinguished to take a stand on climate change. The common areas remained lit for safety reasons.

Sustainability Coordinator Jenn Davis says the action is largely symbolic and has value in reaching out to the broader community.

According to Peter Bolla, Associate Vice-President, Facilities Management, encouraging energy conservation is a basic value at Concordia.

“Anything we can do to help, we do,” he says, mentioning other areas where the university promotes green behaviour. In addition to ecological design of buildings, new shuttle buses are 95% less polluting that the old models and the use of public transit, walking, and cycling is encouraged.

Started in Australia by the World Wildlife Fund in 2007, Earth Hour has since spread to over 4 000 cities, towns and municipalities worldwide with hundreds of millions of people taking part.