From 2007 to present, the above event has been initiated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In 2009, Vietnam responded to the Earth Hour for the first time with the participation of 6 provinces and cities including: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Khanh Hoa. Up to now, after 15 years of organization, the campaign has created positive changes in the community in terms of awareness of the meaning and benefits of saving energy, protecting the environment, and responding to climate change.
Through responding to Earth Hour in previous years and witnessing images of many parks, offices, hotels, and restaurants voluntarily turning off their lights and switching to candle lighting mode, there are still a lot of wasted lights on the roads and streets in many households.
It is pleasing that many young people in Hue City now has positive thoughts when discussing the Earth Hour event. In many people's opinion, turning off the lights for just one hour does not immediately change the quality of the earth’s environment, but it will impose psychological impacts on each person’s environmental protection awareness. Many people shared that individuals have been "messengers" to propagate to relatives and friends how to use electricity effectively. For these people, they not only turn off the lights to respond to Earth Hour, but also schedule to turn off the lights weekly, monthly, etc., when possible to save electricity.
Ms. Tran Nguyen Tung, a pharmaceuticalist in Hue City, said that not only on occasion of the “Lights Out” program in response to Earth Hour, but her family always turned off light bulbs in unnecessary locations and took advantage of sunlight, natural wind by opening the balcony door, minimizing electricity use. This year, her family also responded to the “Lights Out” program and took advantage of this time to gather together.
Preparing for this year’s Earth Hour, Thua Thien Hue Power Company coordinated to develop a plan to reduce capacity in densely populated areas, public lighting systems, entertainment areas and other areas, as well as planned for safe operation of the power grid system before, during, and after the event.
The “Lights Out” program in response to Earth Hour is a simple symbolic action but serves to remind the community and individuals to pay attention and take action to adapt and create long-term habits.