SM Supermalls’ SVP for Operations Steven Tan, World Wide Fund CEO Lory Tan and Miss Earth contestants lead the switch off in celebration of the Earth Hour.

WHEN darkness fell, the moon and the stars kept mall goers busy at SM malls all over the country in celebration of Earth Hour.

It was a night of stargazing in 58 SM malls all over the Philippines and in China during Earth Hour, a movement that spearheads a yearly event that raises consciousness on climate change and its adverse effects on the planet.

For one hour last Saturday night starting at 8:30 p.m., lights at 58 SM Supermalls all over the country and 6 in China were switched off or put at dim mode. During the lights out, participants were able to gaze at the stars, planets and constellations through the telescopes that were placed in strategic areas in some of the participating malls.

Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement of the World Wide Fund to unite people to take action for the planet. This year’s global tagline is “Use Your Power to Change Climate Change.”

The Philippines has been an active participant of Earth Hour since 2008. It has earned the status of “Earth Hero Country” as it has consistently registered the most participating towns in the event.

SM, through its corporate social responsibility arm, SM Cares, has been a participant of the Earth Hour with the number of malls taking part in the hour-long lights our increasing every year. SM Cares has been actively pushing for sustainability in all of the malls’ operations and development implementing various environment friendly measures to better serve the communities they serve.

Earth Hour, which uses the simple action of turning off lights for 60 minutes to highlight the need for decisive climate change solutions, has grown into a worldwide movement since it started in Australia in 2007. Recognized as the world’s largest voluntary action for the environment, Earth Hour has reached 154 countries as of 2013, including 7000 towns and cities all over the world.

Last year, Earth Hour decided to make Spiderman the superhero ambassador for Earth Hour to give the public the message that everyone can be a superhero when it comes to protecting the environment.

World Wide Fund (WWF) CEO Lory Tan said that people should put to heart what the Earth Hour represents. “This is just a representation of a bigger responsibility for all of us here in the planet. We need to put energy conservation and environmental preservation at the forefront of all our activities. The climate change that we are now experiencing is a product of how we were not able to take care of our environment and Earth Hour aims to change that,” he said.