Roundup: Earth Hour 2015 campaign launched in Vietnam

A series of activities in response to the "Earth Hour 2015" was launched nationwide in Vietnam, particularly in major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh ( HCM) City, including switching off lights and other electrical appliances en masse.

The campaign here, co-organized by HCM City's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and Trade and Industry Department, together with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Liberated Saigon Newspaper and relevant agencies, runs from March 14 to March 28.

With the slogans "Your actions today, the Earth's future tomorrow" and "Joining us for a green future", a series of activities is going on, featuring the city's campaign including a contest on the know-how of the environment titled "I love green Vietnam".Other events such as replacing school roof tiles with eco- friendly metal sheets, using energy-saving lamps, displaying recycled products, and encouraging local residents to switch off lights during the Earth Hour, highlighted the two-week campaign.

Meanwhile, the city's youths join the event "20 Seconds for Green Earth Hour" in which they stand at major street intersections, holding in hands banners to remind motor-cyclists turning off their vehicles' engines when they stop during the red light to wait for the green light on.

On March 28, the city residents will join the Earth Hour here by turning off unnecessary electricity devices from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time, besides responding to the light-off hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. the same day, together with countries and regions across the world.

According to organizers, more than 5,000 people in the city are expected to join the campaign this year, which is believed to help raise awareness of environmental protection and power saving in the community.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement for the planet organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held worldwide annually, aimed at encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 p.m.to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March.

The event was initiated as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has attracted more than 7,000 cities and towns worldwide.

In Vietnam, the Earth Hour was first held in 2009, which had achieved positive results over the past years. The country saved 431,000 kwh of electricity, equivalent to 650 million VND (31,000 U.S. dollars), by switching off unnecessary lights and electrical equipment during Earth Hour 2014. Endi