Gerik Parmele photo

Monta Welch, director of the Columbia Climate Change Coalition displaying a compact fluorescent bulb, hopes Earth Hour inspires the public to conserve electric power. Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman is asking city residents to switch off lighting from 8 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the event.

Columbia’s first Earth Hour event has attracted 300 to 400 participants so far, as city residents prepare to switch off electric lights this weekend in an effort to cut pollution and increase awareness of greenhouse gas emissions, organizers said.

Some local businesses also have gotten behind the idea by educating customers and employees about Earth Hour, scheduled for 8 to 9 p.m. Saturday, said Monta Welch, director of the Columbia Climate Change Coalition.

Earth Hour came into being last year in Sydney, Australia, when residents there turned off lights for an hour in response to an extreme drought. Welch said they kept an estimated 25,000 tons of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere. Other cities have signed up for this year’s edition, and Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman last week issued a proclamation designating Saturday as the city’s first Earth Hour Day.

The Columbia Water and Light Department estimates that, if all of its customers shut off their lights for an hour, electricity demand would drop by 11 percent and keep about 35,500 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

"Part of the idea is to help us learn that we do need to take individual actions and step up as individuals because collectively that makes a difference," Welch said.

"It’s a good educational thing for people to be aware of what energy they are consuming and think regularly about conservation," said Sixth Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe, who introduced to the city council the resolution setting up the mayor’s proclamation.

Winifred Colwill, energy chairwoman for the League of Women Voters of Missouri, said she plans to turn off her lights and walk around her west Columbia neighborhood to see how dark it will be without artificial illumination. Colwill said she heard about Earth Hour from someone in Kansas City a month ago and has since passed along e-mails.

"I think that’s the way it’s spreading around the country," she said.

Colwill said she is using the event to start other conservation methods such as installing a low-flow showerhead, buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and trying to avoid using her car one day a week.

Businesses listed as participating include local banks and downtown restaurants Sycamore, Main Squeeze and Addison’s. Even businesses not open during Earth Hour are helping by encouraging employees and passing out literature to customers, Welch said.

Jeremy Brown, co-owner of Addison’s and Sophia’s, said the restaurants plan to participate by dimming the dining room lights as much as possible that hour and relying on candlelight.

"We’ll do as much as we can within safety standards," he said. "We can’t turn the place all the way off, but we’ll do what we can."

Brown said he is looking forward to picking up conservation tips leading up to the event because of the added financial benefit. "It’s good for the environment, but it’s also good for our pocket," he added.

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