Wales switches off to celebrate Earth Hour

THE lights went out in Wales last night as families and businesses across the country switched off for Earth Hour.

The event, organised by WWF Cymru, this year celebrated its 10th anniversary and saw people turning off their lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Earth Hour was marked across the world as a way of showing that action is wanted on climate change.

Caernarfon Castle, National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, the Senedd in Cardiff Bay and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff all switched off their lights for Earth Hour. The event was broadcast live and included a performance by Welsh Music Prize nominee The Gentle Good and singer songwriter Catrin Herbert.

In the weeks running up to Earth Hour, WWF Cymru ran a special 10th anniversary “Message in a Bottle” campaign.

An eight-metre sculpture, made of hundreds of unwanted and used bottles, symbolised the messages gathered across Wales and was placed on the steps of the Senedd for the Earth Hour celebrations.

Each bottle had a message hidden inside and the design used low energy LED lights.

Anne Meikle, head of WWF Cymru, said: “Our Message in a Bottle campaign has also captured the imagination of our Welsh politicians with half of all Assembly Members pledging their support to our campaign earlier in the week.

“It is clear that tackling climate change is becoming more and more a priority issue for both the public and politicians – and this is something to celebrate.”