CN Tower and Toronto sign go dark in observance of Earth Hour

The city’s skyline looked a little bit different tonight as many buildings, including the CN Tower, went dark in observance of Earth Hour.

The event began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 but is now observed in more than 7,000 cities and 187 countries worldwide.

This year’s Earth Hour took place between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

There were dozens of events taking place across the GTA to mark the occasion, including a celebration at Nathan Phillips Square and candlelight walks in Parkdale and Roncesvalles Village.

One of the organizers of the candlelight walk in Roncesvalles Village told CP24 that 80 to 100 people participated in this year’s event. She said that she marches every year in order to raise awareness about climate change and, more importantly, the need for “climate action.”

“If we can teach our children now how to take care of the earth than it is all in their hands and there is nothing quite like knowledge,” she said.

Toronto Hydro won’t release data for Earth Hour

Notably, the lights on the CN Tower were dimmed during Earth Hour and the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square was also shut off.

Though Toronto Hydro usually releases information on the drop in power usage during Earth Hour, spokesperson Tori Gass tells CP24 that the utility will not be doing that this year.

“We don’t really need to measure that hour anymore. Last year we saw maybe a two per cent drop when previously it was as much as 15 per cent but what that is telling us is that people aren’t just doing this during one hour, they have embraced it and are doing it all year round,” she said. “Between 2006 and 2017 we actually saw almost 2300 gigawatt hours saved and to put that in easier to understand terms, that is about 780 large condos off the grid.”

Gass said that while Earth Hour “did spark a movement,” she said that the mission to reduce electricity use is now happening “every single day.”

For that reason, she said the fact that the drop in electricity use during Earth Hour has become negligible shouldn’t be viewed as a negative.

“People are making it part of their every day, they are switching over to LED bulbs, our appliances are more efficient these days. It has become a part of our lives. People aren’t wasting electricity any more,” she said.

In a message posted to Twitter on Saturday morning, Mayor John Tory encouraged everyone to partake in Earth Hour by limiting their electricity use and “celebrating how we are all connected to the Earth.”