Black Night in the City: Cancun Flips the Switch for Earth Hour

Punta Cancun. Courtesy of Newlink Communications

Wahoo, Cancun! Spring breakers’ mecca. But if you’re heading there this weekend, be prepared for an early lights out—at least, for an hour, until the party surely kicks into high gear again. On March 27th, the beachy hotspot in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula will join more than 115 other countries in turning off lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. in observance of Earth Hour, a global effort to raise awareness about climate change. (Read Audubon's article here.)

 

Currently, 100 businesses in Cancun have pledged to support the initiative, with nearly a third of the 70,000 hotel rooms in Quintana Roo (the Mexican state where Cancun is located) signing on, according to a press release from Newlink Communications. In particular, Plaza Forum by the Sea, a city icon, will flick the switch as a large group of supporters are expected to gather.

 

The first Earth Hour ticked off in 2007 in the Land Down Under, where more than two million homes and businesses in Sydney cut the lights for an hour as a stand against global warming. In 2008, the demonstration went global, with landmarks like San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Colosseum in Rome donning black. More than 4,000 cities in 88 countries participated last year, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative, according to the project’s website. 

Guess this gives Cancun revelers just one more thing to celebrate.

To show your support for Earth Hour, which is organized by the World Wildlife Fund, click here.

 

Australia Post and WWF-Australia encouraged people to take part in this year's Earth Hour with a commemorative set of three stamps, each featuring an animal familiar to Aussies--a possum, an owl, and an orangutan--along with the messages "Lights Out," "Switch Off," and "Save Energy." From WWF-Australia.