More than 21,000 people participated in the Earth Hour 2014 campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29 by Saigon Giai Phong, HCMC Communist Youth Union Committee, and various agencies in the city.
Since early morning, nearly 1,000 activists rode the bikes along Le Duan, Hai Ba Trung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Cach Mang Thang Tam Streets to advocate the campaign by switching off lights and saving energy.
More than 2,500 people took part in the campaign’s flashmob project to incite the youth. The organization board also mobilized several universities to organize flashmob dances in their precincts.
Stalls were opened for people to exchange empty plastic bottles, old tubes, milk packs, and cans for energy-saving light bulbs. There were also workshops on how to create objects out of recycled products.
The Youth Cultural House turned off all lights at 8:30 pm. Thousands of volunteers held LED light bulbs and chanted campaign’s slogans.
Notre Dame Cathedral area, commerce centers and supermarkets also turned off lights.
A total of 431,000 KWh of electricity, equivalent to VND 650 million (US$ 31,000), was saved during the campaign’s 60 minutes that the light was switched off in HCMC, according to Vietnam Electricity.
HCMC began celebrating Earth Hour in 2009 and has become a popular activity for citizens, said Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, deputy secretary of the city Party Committee.
More than 600 Vietnamese and Laotian students from Ha Tinh University with 500 civil servants in Ha Tinh Province rode bikes along streets to raise awareness of Earth Hour.
Ha Tinh Power Corporation assisted impoverished households with 1,000 energy-efficient light bulbs and awarded 500 households low electricity usage.
Source: SGGP
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