The Earth Hour campaign Saturday instilled a sense of responsibility more among the residents in Riyadh than the companies and organizations to safeguard the mother earth from getting warmer. A tour of the city between 8.30 P.M. and 9.30 P.M. revealed that the call to turn off non-essential lights for one hour went unheeded as most of the private sector including corporate houses, banks, starred hotels, high-rise buildings including electronic hoardings and street lamps were fully lighted up on Saturday. An official of a starred hotel said the management of his hotel was not aware of Earth Hour so, there was no question of marking the event. While the sales and marketing manager of another starred hotel hailed the idea to turn off the non-essential lights for an hour but said he was not aware of the international event. He said he would hesitate next time to support the Earth Hour campaign but try to educate his staff to make it a routine practice to turn non-essential lights and other electrical appliances off to also save on electric bills. However, the enthusiasm to mark Earth Hour was more distinct among the Riyadh residents also for the simple reason that if practiced regularly it would also help them in monthly savings on huge electric bills. Most of the private sector managements were caught unaware about Earth Hour, which is aimed at raising awareness of global warming and its impact on the world's environments. Residents here said the Earth Hour, a campaign by World-Wide Fund (WWF) which calls for turning off non-essential lights and cautious use of electrical appliances should be practiced in every day lives that was not only good against global warming but also help in monthly savings on huge electrical bills. Farzana Hashim, a Pakistani eight-year old girl, said her parents asked her to observe Earth Hour by turning off the light of her room for one hour. “I not only turned off the light of my room but will remember to do so on a daily basis,” she said. Hashim Rasool said Earth Hour campaign should be marked not once but as many times as possible in a year, which is necessary to create awareness at grass-root levels. “People become habitual to keep the lights and other electrical equipments such as computers, TV and music system turned on even when they are not in use. The children showed carelessness and very often keep lights and ceiling fans switched on for hours even when not in use,” he said. However, Radisson SAS marked Earth Hour by hosting a candle-lit cocktail party for all in-house guests staying in the hotel. Essam Abdulaziz, Senior Sales Manager said the hotel went into dark for one-hour in areas where the lights were not required. “We hosted a candle-lit cocktail party for the in-house guests as part of creating awareness for Earth Hour,” he said.
