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Landmarks join drive to turn off lights on solstice

Thousands of private and public landmarks throughout Asia, including Taipei 101 and the Miramar Ferris Wheel, the Tokyo Tower and stores on Beijing’s Bar Street, will mark the summer solstice today with a lights-out event to promote energy conservation.

Taiwan has participated in the campaign since 2005, Society of Wilderness (SOW) president Eddy Lin (林耀國) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

“Last year, 650,000 people participated in our lights-out event, turning off their lights for 70 minutes and saving 300,000 units of electricity; this year, we want to pass on our experience to Hong Kong and Beijing and show the world that Taiwan is making an effort to reduce its carbon emissions,” he said.

DA-AN CONCERT

To encourage people to turn off their electronic gadgets and step outside to enjoy nature, SOW will host a live, unplugged concert in Da-an Forest Park in Taipei City, Lin said, adding that the highlight of the concert would be an eco-friendly wedding, with the bride donning a gown made of recycled red-and-white striped plastic bags.

“In addition to Taipei, other cities will do their share to save electricity — for example, a trumpet player will climb the Hsinchu old city walls tomorrow at 8pm and play the trumpet to call on Hsinchu residents to turn off their lights,” Lin said.

CHINA JOINS CAMPAIGN

A dozen Chinese cities — including Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Xiamen — will join the campaign as the country participates for the first time, Lin said.

Beijing’s activity host, Friends of Nature (FON), China’s first registered environmental group, has named its debut participation “Summer Solstice Lights-out and Prayer,” FON president Chang Si-ying (張巳英) said via Web camera at yesterday’s press conference.

“China has suffered a number of catastrophic natural disasters in the past few years — the lights-out event aims to remind people of the preciousness of our environment and that we must preserve nature to survive,” Chang said.

SOW said it hopes to inspire the public to cut back consumption of precious resources not just today but every day, Lin said.

“Taipei 101, for example, has promised to turn its lights off one hour earlier every day, which would save 180,000 units of electricity a year,” Lin said. “What we hope to do is to change people’s values and habits. While many people value convenience over resource conservation now, we hope to change their priorities.”
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