The moon and the stars became visible to visitors of 58 SM malls nationwide after the lights went out Saturday night to mark Earth Hour, the global campaign on climate change awareness.

After a 10-second countdown, SM Supermalls senior vice president Steven Tan and World Wildlife Fund National Advisory Council CEO Lory Tan, together with Miss Earth Philippines candidates pushed the button that signaled the shutting down of power in the malls all over the country.

With the lights dimmed, mall goers, shoppers and organizers of the Earth Hour movement were able to gaze at the stars, planets and constellations through telescopes that were placed in strategic areas in participating malls.

Fire dancers used ropes with glittering lights that glowed in the dark to entertain the audience during the one-hour long darkness.

Earth Hour is a worldwide annual grassroots movement of the WWF that seeks to raise consciousness on climate change and its adverse effects on 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” because it has consistently tallied the most participating localities 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 its malls’ operations by implementing various environment-friendly measures to improve 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, involving 7,000 towns and cities all over the world.

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