City's Office of Environmental Policy invites San Antonio community to observe International Earth Hour

The City's Office of Environmental Policy invites the San Antonio community to join communities across the United States in showing their support of International Earth Hour - a global movement to stimulate support for energy efficient practices. Residents and businesses are encouraged to turn off all non-essential lights on Saturday, March 26 beginning at 8:30 p.m. for one hour.

The theme for this year's event is Earth Hour 2011: It's time to go beyond the hour. Organizers hope to encourage citizens to think beyond one hour this Saturday to come up with ideas on how they can make a difference. This is another opportunity for our community to show its support and raise awareness of sustainability practices that help in the protection of our planet.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Last year, a record 128 countries and territories participated in the one-hour event.

For more information on Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org. And for more information the City's participation in Earth Hour, contact Laurence Doxsey, director, Office of Environmental Policy at (210) 207-1721.